Nigeria and Brazil: From Shared History to Renewed Economic Partnership
Nigeria and Brazil: From Shared History to Renewed Economic Partnership
Jerry Adesewo
Nigeria and Brazil share a bond stretching back more than four centuries, forged in tragedy but reborn in resilience. According to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, Emory University, between 1500 and 1867, an estimated 4.8 million Africans—many from Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo communities—were shipped across the Atlantic to Brazil in the brutal transatlantic slave trade.
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Out of this painful chapter emerged a deep cultural kinship. Yoruba deities have shaped Brazil’s Candomblé religion, Nigerian culinary influences are still evident in Bahia’s spicy cuisine, and Afro-Brazilian music continues to echo the rhythms of West Africa. By 1888, when Brazil abolished slavery, over 3,200 returnees from Brazil had settled in Lagos’s “Brazilian Quarter” building homes that still stand today, as recorded by the Brazilian Embassy archives.
Today, approximately 9,000 Nigerians reside in São Paulo, fostering exchanges in music, Nollywood cinema, and academia (Brazil Immigration, 2023). The diaspora remains a living bridge between two nations that continue to discover new reasons to deepen ties.
Diplomatic and Economic Ties
Formal diplomatic relations were established in 1961, and more than ten bilateral agreements have been signed since. Among them, the Nigeria-Brazil Strategic Dialogue Mechanism (SDM), launched in 2013, remains the only one of its kind in West Africa.
But while culture has flourished, trade has struggled to reach its potential. From a high of $9 billion a decade ago, volumes slumped to $1.6 billion in 2023, recovering to $2.1 billion in 2024. Brazil exports machinery, sugar, and poultry worth nearly $977.5 million, while Nigeria supplies $880.4 million in fertilisers and fuels (UN COMTRADE). Non-oil exports, especially cocoa and sesame, contributed \$620 million in late 2024—signaling untapped possibilities in agriculture and value-added trade.
Petrobras Returns, Air Peace Expands
That outlook is shifting. During President Bola Tinubu’s recent state visit to Brazil, five major Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed to reenergize cooperation. At the heart of the renewed relationship is the imminent return of Petrobras, Brazil’s oil giant, to Nigeria, after a decade of departure from Nigeria.
President Tinubu described Petrobras’s return as “a vote of confidence in Nigeria’s new business climate,” stressing that his government has ended speculative distortions in the foreign exchange market and opened the economy to investors. “It’s getting clearer to the people. We have more money for the economy, and there will be no more corruption,” Tinubu said.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva echoed the optimism, declaring that at a time when “protectionism and unilateralism have returned, Nigeria and Brazil reaffirm their commitment to cooperation and mutual progress.”
Meanwhile, in aviation, Nigeria’s leading airline, Air Peace, has expanded into Brazil, opening direct commercial flights between Lagos and São Paulo. This development not only strengthens people-to-people ties but also promises to boost tourism, trade, and cultural exchange.
What It Means for Nigeria
For Nigeria, this partnership carries several implications:
– Energy and Infrastructure: Petrobras’s return could unlock new investments in offshore exploration, refining capacity, and knowledge transfer, helping Nigeria diversify its oil industry.
– Trade Expansion: With Air Peace bridging the Atlantic, Nigerian agricultural producers and exporters now have a more direct gateway to South America’s largest economy.
– Cultural Diplomacy: Strengthened exchanges in film, music, and academia are set to enrich both nations, building on centuries of shared heritage.
– Strategic Positioning: Revived Nigeria-Brazil relations position Nigeria as a central African partner in South America’s outreach to the continent.
Looking Ahead
The renewed Nigeria-Brazil partnership is more than diplomacy; it is history reconnecting with destiny. A shared past, once scarred by forced migration, is now being reshaped into a future of cooperation.
If sustained, Petrobras’s investments, Air Peace’s expansion, and deeper trade and cultural exchanges could propel Nigeria into a new era of transatlantic partnership—one that honours history but speaks firmly to the future.
Nigeria and Brazil: From Shared History to Renewed Economic Partnership