Nigeria, India Move to Deepen Economic Ties, Revive Trade to $15bn
Nigeria, India Move to Deepen Economic Ties, Revive Trade to $15bn
Nigeria, India Move to Deepen Economic Ties, Revive Trade to $15bn
Nigeria and India have agreed to deepen their strategic economic partnership, with India expressing interest in renewing purchases of Nigerian crude oil as both countries work to restore bilateral trade to its previous peak of nearly $15 billion.
The development followed a bilateral meeting between Vice President Kashim Shettima and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi.
Bilateral trade between Nigeria and India reached about $14.95 billion in 2021–2022 before declining, largely due to reduced Indian purchases of Nigerian crude oil. Trade subsequently fell to about $7.13 billion in 2024–2025, before recovering to approximately $9 billion in 2025–2026, according to figures disclosed by the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhishek Singh.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Modi advocated renewed crude oil purchases from Nigeria, noting that stronger energy trade could help restore commercial exchanges between the two countries to previous levels.
Responding, Shettima said Nigeria would consider the request as part of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s broader efforts to attract investment and build strategic partnerships that expand the country’s productive capacity.
The Vice President identified pharmaceuticals, defence, digital technology and the creative industries as priority areas for deeper cooperation, stressing the importance of partnerships that create jobs, transfer skills and open opportunities for Nigeria’s growing youth population.
The two leaders also discussed expanded cooperation in renewable and clean energy, power, healthcare, capacity building, financial technology and other emerging sectors.
Shettima said the Tinubu administration was particularly interested in moving Nigeria-India relations beyond the traditional exchange of commodities towards investments that support domestic production and value addition.
The renewed economic push builds on a longstanding relationship between the two countries, with crude oil historically accounting for a significant share of India’s imports from Nigeria.
Prime Minister Modi also expressed appreciation for Nigeria’s hospitality towards the sizeable Indian community living and doing business in the country.
Both leaders agreed that stronger private-sector engagement would be central to the next phase of bilateral relations, particularly in sectors where Indian companies have significant expertise and Nigeria has growing demand.
The discussions also covered greater collaboration in fintech and digital technology, building on the two countries’ expanding digital economies and previous cooperation on digital public infrastructure.
Shettima said President Tinubu’s objective was to ensure that international partnerships translate into investment, technology transfer, industrial growth and tangible economic opportunities for Nigerians.
Nigeria and India also reaffirmed their commitment to sustaining high-level political and economic engagement through the India-Africa partnership framework and other multilateral platforms.
Nigeria Adopts Indian Model to Boost Women’s Economic Empowerment
The Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, said Nigeria was drawing lessons from India’s women-led self-help group model to strengthen financial inclusion and grassroots enterprise development.
She said the approach was being implemented through the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up, using Women Affinity Groups to connect women with finance, skills and markets.
According to the Minister, the programme forms part of the Federal Government’s broader efforts to increase women’s participation in productive economic activities while strengthening social protection and interventions against sexual and gender-based violence.
“Women’s economic empowerment is fundamental to our ambition of building a $1 trillion economy. We must deliberately bring millions more Nigerian women into productive economic activity,” Sulaiman-Ibrahim said.
Nigeria, India Move to Deepen Economic Ties, Revive Trade to $15bn
