UK Appoints New Deputy High Commissioner To Nigeria

The United Kingdom has appointed Ben Llewellyn-Jones as the new British Deputy High Commissioner (DHC) Lagos, Nigeria.

His appointment was announced in a statement from the commission on Wednesday.

Naija News reports that Llewellyn is an experienced diplomat who had worked in different parts of the world including Nigeria.

He takes over from Harriet Thompson who recently concluded four years as DHC in Abuja and Lagos.

The new DHC will be focusing his time and energy on supporting trade, investment and development in Nigeria and growing commercial links between the UK and Nigeria.

He previously worked at the British High Commission in Abuja in the role of Political Counsellor from July 2014 to July 2017.

He was most recently Deputy High Commissioner to South Africa from August 2017 to August 2020, where he worked in particular to support trade and investment.

Prior to that, he was the British High Commissioner to Rwanda from 2011 – 2014.

Throughout his career, Llewellyn-Jones has held a range of responsibilities including leading UK policy to prevent dangerous climate change, and work to support UK agencies tackling organised crime.

He served as the Deputy Head of the Climate Change and Energy Group at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2009 to 2010, and the Head of the Third Country Relations Team at the UK Home Office in 2006.

He worked in Brussels at the UK’s Permanent Representation to the EU for four and a half years, and has led the UK delegation at a number of EU and UN senior multilateral meetings.