Smithson Gets Appointment as Head of UK-Nigeria Trade Dept.

The United Kingdom has appointed Mark Smithson as the country director for the UK’s Department for Business and Trade (DBT) in Nigeria.

A statement on Thursday from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office announced that Smithson is succeeding Chim Chalemera, who recently concluded a three-year tenure in the role.

“Mark is an experienced civil servant having undertaken a wide variety of roles both in the UK and overseas,” the office stated.

“In this new role, he will lead on the UK-Nigeria trade and investment relations to deliver increased high-value inward investment and greater exports into the UK and Nigeria, as well as support market access and trade policy priorities.”

Smithson expressed his excitement about the new role, emphasizing Nigeria’s significance to the UK and the world.

“Our historical, cultural, people-to-people, and business ties are deep and ever-growing,” he said.

“I am delighted to take up this new role as the DBT’s country director, and I look forward to forging partnerships with the Nigerian government, the private sector, and the UK supply chain to seize the opportunities this great country and our unique partnership offer to deliver a more prosperous future to both our countries.”

About Smithson

Before his posting to Nigeria, Smithson was based in London from 2021 to 2024, leading the DBT’s capital investment agenda.

Initially, he covered European and United States corporates, and from September 2022, he served as the UK government’s global account manager for large institutional investors from Southeast Asia, focusing on Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.

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From 2007 to 2013, Smithson led the consular section at the British Consulate General in Barcelona, Spain, handling numerous high-profile consular cases and sporting events.

In 2013, he moved to the US to head consular services for Florida, the US Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico at the British Consulate General in Miami, overseeing an extensive outreach program with US government agencies and managing several crises, including deployments as a rapid deployment team leader.

In 2017, Smithson was transferred to Atlanta, US, to lead the UK’s tech and creative trade and investment agenda in the Southeast region.

A year later, he moved to Bangkok, Thailand, where he served until 2021, leading efforts to boost exports and investment and laying the groundwork for the UK-Thailand Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).

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