The annual bilateral trade volume between Nigeria and Japan stands at one billion dollars. This was disclosed by the Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Matsunaga Kazuyoshi, at the 2nd Japan-Nigeria business facilitation council meeting on Friday in Abuja, according to NAN.Nigeria’s agriculture exports to Japan have found a stable niche market as its sesame seeds exports now account for 40% of sesame seeds consumed in Japan. What they are saying The Japan-Nigeria business facilitation council meeting was the second held since the Japan-Nigeria Business Facilitation Council (JNBFC) took place in Lagos in February 2020.Mr Kazuyoshi who said that the trade volume between Nigeria and Japan is now one billion dollars annually stated that, “The trade volume includes imports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and agricultural products like sesame seeds from Nigeria.“It also extends to exports of machines and cars from Japan to Nigeria.’’The ambassador added that 40% of sesame seeds consumed in Japan were grown in Nigeria.He also urged the importance of the meeting, citing that currently, 47 Japanese companies were operating in Nigeria, stating that the meeting was critical in proffering solutions to some of the challenges the companies were facing with the Nigeria Customs Service, National Agency for Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), foreign exchange and logistics. The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Mrs Saratu Umar, urged other countries to emulate the Japanese model and develop such bilateral councils.“We have a good working relationship with the Japanese embassy and will sustain such to ensure that we jointly work to provide succour to all Japanese companies doing business in Nigeria,” she said.She said Nigeria established a similar platform called OSIC Lab, leveraging the existence of Ministries, Departments and Agencies under the One-Stop Investment Centre, which gives a one-stop solution in resolving investors’ challenges with government agencies.“This I believe, will complement the work we do at the Japan Nigeria Business Facilitation Council,” she added. What you should know Nairametrics reported that Nigeria’s agricultural export surged by 57.02% to N504.9 billion in 2021 compared to N321.5 billion recorded in the previous year, which is also the highest agro-export income on record.Sesame seed export which increased in 2021 was stated at N113.2 billion, which is higher than the N98.27 billion recorded in the previous year. Sesame seed export accounted for 22.4% of our total export in the period. Sesame seed comes from a flowering plant mostly grown in Northern Nigeria due to the drought-resistant nature of the seed and used as a source of sesame oil which is the most demanded vegetable oil in the world because of its zero-cholesterol content.Nigeria’s foreign trade rose to N13 trillion in the first quarter of 2022, increasing by 11.1% from N11.7 trillion, recorded in the previous quarter and 65.4% higher than the N7.86 trillion recorded in Q1 2021.The improvement in Nigeria’s merchandise trade was due to increases in crude oil export receipts in the quarter under review. Specifically, Nigeria’s crude oil earnings rose by 31.66% quarter-on-quarter to N5.62 trillion in Q1 2022 as total export earnings improved by 23.13% from N5.77 trillion recorded in Q4 2021, to N7.1 trillion in Q1 2022, as against a 0.67% decline in import bill to N5.9 trillion in the same quarter. This resulted in a N1.19 trillion positive trade balance, the first since Q2 2021.