Hello, this is Omori, COO.
In August, I went on a business trip to Nigeria with our sales team.

This is my first overseas business trip since the spread of the new coronavirus infection, and my first visit to Nigeria in about a year and a half.
(Of course, this was a business trip during the COVID-19 pandemic, so I took all necessary precautions, including getting vaccinated and undergoing PCR testing.)

After a 27-hour flight (with two transfers!), we arrived in Lagos, Nigeria 🌍
August was the dry season in Nigeria (the time when winter turns to spring), and temperatures were between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius, making it very comfortable.

Lagos, Nigeria, is an economic megacity with a population of about 25 million, but how long do you think it takes its residents to commute to work?

The average commute time for Tokyo residents is 43.8 minutes one way, or about an hour and a half round trip.
Even for those who live in urban centers other than Tokyo, many people probably have a commute time of around two hours round trip.

The average commute time for Lagos residents is a whopping 4 hours one way, or 8 hours round trip!!

Why does it take so long?

That's because of traffic congestion 🚙🚙🚙
Traffic jams are at their peak from around 6am in the morning and 4pm in the evening.
That's why there is a great need for solutions to alleviate traffic congestion in Lagos, Nigeria.

We were also subjected to the same traffic jams during our business trip, but we were able to visit various companies this time as well.

In Nigeria, 70% of the population works in agriculture.
We visited several agricultural machinery buyers, got their opinions on Japanese-made agricultural machinery, and talked to them about the agricultural machinery they handle, and felt the possibility of exporting agricultural machinery through DiGiTRAD.
By the way, sesame seeds, which we all eat every day without even thinking about it, are used a lot in Japanese and Chinese cuisine!
Surprisingly, Nigeria is Japan's number one importer of sesame seeds!

During our visit to the Nigerian Embassy, the Ambassador showed great interest in DiGiTRAD and agreed to cooperate with us in raising awareness of DiGiTRAD's services and marketing our products.

Also, during my business trip, I saw many Japanese cars.
It's always nice to see Japanese products in Africa!
It seems that Toyota is by far the most commonly imported used car in Nigeria.
For new cars, the top three are South Korea's Hyundai, South Korea's Kia, and Japan's Honda.

🔽The photo is of Nissan🚙

This was my first business trip in a year and a half, and I was reminded that Japanese products are in demand in Nigeria.
This business trip gave me a real sense of the acceptance of DiGiTRAD services in Nigeria.

We will continue to incorporate opinions from local people in Nigeria and make further updates to make the DiGiTRAD service a safe, secure and easy way to do import/export business!

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone in Nigeria who took the time out of their busy schedules to help us.
thank you very much.

🔽With Standage Nigeria office members! (Omori is on the far right)

[Contact Information]
Shiba NA Building 4F, 3-6-10 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0014
STANDAGE Co., Ltd.
President and CEO: Akinori Adachi
Executive Vice President/COO: Kenta Omori
Press Contact Email: info@standage.org