Nigeria and India are deepening their strategic partnership across trade, investment, defence, energy, healthcare, agriculture and technology, with bilateral trade rising to about $9 billion in the 2025–26 financial year, Abhishek Singh, Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, has disclosed.
Singh made the disclosure in Abuja during a media briefing on the expanding relationship between the two countries, saying the latest trade figure represented a significant increase from the $7.13 billion recorded in 2024–25.
He said the growth underscored the increasing economic importance of the relationship between Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, and India, one of the world’s major emerging economic powers.
According to the envoy, the relationship has moved beyond its traditional foundations of historical ties and crude oil trade to encompass a much broader range of strategic interests, including security, digital technology, food security, healthcare, agriculture, and global governance.
“India-Nigeria relations are no longer defined only by historical goodwill or oil trade,” Singh said, stressing that the partnership had evolved into a multidimensional strategic relationship.
Singh said more than 200 Indian companies were currently operating in Nigeria, with investments spanning pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, power, construction, consumer goods, healthcare and other services.
He noted that many of the companies had gone beyond importing Indian products into Nigeria to establish factories and production facilities locally.
The investments, he said, had created employment opportunities for close to 100,000 Nigerians, making Indian companies collectively a significant contributor to private-sector employment in the country.
The High Commissioner said the growing footprint of Indian businesses reflected investors’ confidence in Nigeria’s large consumer market and long-term economic prospects.
He added that the increasing presence of Indian companies provided opportunities for technology transfer, skills development, industrialisation and greater integration of Nigerian businesses into international value chains.
Energy security, Singh said, remained one of the most important pillars of the bilateral relationship, with crude oil and liquefied natural gas continuing to play significant roles in trade between the two countries.
However, he said cooperation was increasingly extending beyond conventional oil and gas trade to include Indian investments in Nigeria’s petroleum industry, pipeline security, compressed natural gas conversion and liquefied petroleum gas infrastructure.
Singh linked the growing importance of energy cooperation to the huge populations and energy requirements of both countries.
India has a population of about 1.4 billion, while Nigeria has more than 230 million people, creating substantial demand for reliable and affordable energy.
“This is all the more reason that the two great democracies, India and Nigeria, should cooperate more in the field of energy security,” he said.
He suggested that deeper cooperation could help both countries address their respective energy challenges while opening new opportunities for investment and technology exchange.
Defence and maritime security have also emerged as important components of the relationship, with Singh noting that military cooperation between India and Nigeria dates back several decades.
He recalled India’s contribution to the development of Nigeria’s defence institutions, including support for the establishment of the National Defence Academy in Kaduna and the Naval College in Port Harcourt.
The High Commissioner said the two countries faced several common security threats, including terrorism, violent extremism, piracy, organised crime and illicit trafficking.
Consequently, he said, bilateral security cooperation covered intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism, military training and maritime security, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea.
Singh disclosed that a Nigerian naval delegation was scheduled to travel to India for bilateral discussions, describing the planned engagement as another indication of the depth of defence relations between the two countries.
Defence equipment and sales, he added, also remained areas in which the two countries could further strengthen cooperation.
The High Commissioner said India’s development partnership with Nigeria had produced tangible results, including $395 million in concessional lines of credit.
He also highlighted India’s technical assistance through the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme, under which Nigerians have received training in several professional fields.
Beneficiaries, he said, had undergone training in areas including auditing, teaching, rural development, electrification and other specialised sectors.
Members of the Nigerian Armed Forces have also continued to receive training at leading Indian defence institutions.
Singh said India’s development cooperation was largely focused on sharing expertise and capabilities in areas that aligned with Nigeria’s own development priorities.
These areas include affordable medicines, Digital Public Infrastructure, agriculture, skills development, food security, climate-resilient development and space applications.
Singh pointed to India’s globally recognised pharmaceutical industry, describing the country as a major producer and exporter of medicines and an important supplier of pharmaceutical products to Nigeria.
He said there was considerable scope for further cooperation in pharmaceutical manufacturing, healthcare delivery and access to affordable medicines.
Beyond healthcare, he identified Digital Public Infrastructure, space applications, agricultural mechanisation, food security and climate-resilient development as emerging frontiers of bilateral cooperation.
The envoy said these areas could provide opportunities for Nigeria to draw on India’s experience in deploying technology and large-scale development solutions.
Agricultural cooperation, in particular, could contribute to Nigeria’s efforts to improve food production, mechanisation and resilience to climate-related challenges.
Singh attributed the recent momentum in India-Nigeria relations to increased high-level political engagement between Abuja and New Delhi.
He recalled President Bola Tinubu’s visit to India in September 2023 during India’s G20 presidency.
The visit coincided with the formal admission of the African Union as a full member of the G20, an outcome that further highlighted the importance of India-Africa relations.
The engagement was followed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Nigeria in November 2024, the first visit by an Indian prime minister to Nigeria in about 17 years.
According to the Envoy, during the visit, Modi held extensive discussions with Tinubu on trade and investment, defence, energy, agriculture, healthcare, education, technology and security.
“Nigeria further demonstrated the importance it attached to the visit by conferring its highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, GCON, on the Indian Prime Minister”, he added.
Singh also recalled other senior-level engagements, including the participation of India’s Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, at Tinubu’s inauguration in May 2023.
Looking ahead, India is seeking deeper Nigerian participation in major global economic and political platforms, particularly BRICS.
Singh disclosed that President Tinubu had been invited to attend the BRICS Leaders’ Summit scheduled for September 12–13, 2026, in New Delhi.
He expressed hope that the Nigerian leader would attend with a high-powered delegation.
The envoy said Nigeria’s participation would be significant given the country’s position as Africa’s largest economy and one of the world’s most populous nations.
India assumed the BRICS chairmanship in 2026, with its summit expected to focus on global challenges, economic cooperation and engagement with partner countries.
For Nigeria, participation would provide another platform to strengthen its engagement with emerging economic powers and advance its interests within an increasingly multipolar global system.
Singh disclosed that Nigeria had conveyed its support for India’s campaign for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, while India had also conveyed support for Nigeria’s candidacy.
India is promoting its campaign under the banner “SHANTI”, Securing Holistic Advancement through Norms, Trust and Integrity.
According to Singh, the campaign reflects India’s vision of a peaceful, inclusive and reformed global order.
He reiterated India’s position that reform of the UN Security Council should involve an expansion of both permanent and non-permanent membership categories.
The mutual support, he said, reflected the broader convergence between the two countries on issues concerning the reform of global governance institutions and greater representation for the Global South.
Singh also highlighted the role of the Indian community in Nigeria, estimating that about 60,000 Indians currently live in the country.
Many, he said, were second- and third-generation Indians who had become deeply integrated into Nigerian society.
The High Commissioner expressed appreciation to the Nigerian government and people for providing the Indian community with an environment in which it could establish businesses, build families and contribute to national development.
He described the community as an important bridge between India and Nigeria in areas including commerce, education, healthcare and culture.
Singh said many members of the community viewed India as their motherland while considering Nigeria their fatherland.
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