Nigeria, India move to rebuild trade, target $15bn as Modi seeks renewed crude purchases

By Adebola Muili

Nigeria and India have agreed to deepen their strategic economic partnership, with India seeking renewed purchases of Nigerian crude oil as both countries work to raise bilateral trade towards its previous peak of nearly $15 billion.

The agreement followed a bilateral meeting between Vice President Kashim Shettima and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the just-concluded BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi.

Bilateral trade between Nigeria and India reached about $14.95 billion in the 2021–2022 financial year before declining, largely due to reduced Indian purchases of Nigerian crude. It fell to $7.13 billion in 2024–2025 but recovered to about $9 billion in 2025–2026, according to figures disclosed by the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhishek Singh.

Modi made a case for renewed crude oil purchases from Nigeria, saying stronger energy cooperation could help restore bilateral commercial exchanges to previous levels.

Responding, Shettima said Nigeria would examine the request as part of the Federal Government’s broader efforts to attract investment and build strategic partnerships capable of expanding the country’s productive capacity.

The Vice President identified pharmaceuticals, defence, digital technology and the creative industries as areas of particular interest to Nigeria, stressing the need for partnerships that create jobs, transfer skills and expand opportunities for the country’s large youth population.

According to a statement from the State House, 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 administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was particularly interested in moving Nigeria’s relationship with India beyond the traditional exchange of commodities towards investments that support domestic production and value addition.

The renewed push builds on a longstanding economic relationship between both countries, with crude oil historically accounting for a significant share of India’s imports from Nigeria.

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 Nigeria-India relations, particularly in industries where Indian companies already possess considerable expertise and Nigerian demand remains strong.

Discussions also covered greater collaboration in fintech and digital technology, building on the expanding digital economies of both countries and earlier agreements 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.

Meanwhile, 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.

She said the approach was being adopted through the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up, using Women Affinity Groups to connect women to finance, skills and markets.

According to the Minister, the programme forms part of the Federal Government’s wider efforts to expand 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.