Nigeria and India are moving to rebuild bilateral trade towards its previous high of nearly $15 billion, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking renewed purchases of Nigerian crude oil.
The development followed a bilateral meeting between Vice-President Kashim Shettima and Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi, India.
According to a statement issued on Monday by Shettima’s spokesperson, Stanley Nkwocha, Modi made a case for renewed crude purchases from Nigeria, noting that stronger energy trade could help restore commercial exchanges between both countries.
The statement was titled, ‘Nigeria, India Move To Rebuild Trade, Target $15bn As Modi Seeks Renewed Crude Purchases.’
Crude oil has historically accounted for a significant share of India’s imports from Nigeria.
Bilateral trade between both countries stood at about $14.95 billion in 2021–2022, but declined to $7.13 billion in 2024–2025, largely due to reduced Indian purchases of Nigerian crude.
The figure subsequently rose to about $9 billion in 2025–2026, according to figures disclosed by India’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhishek Singh.
Responding to Modi’s request, Shettima said Nigeria would examine the proposal as part of the Federal Government’s broader efforts to attract investment and establish strategic partnerships capable of expanding the country’s productive capacity.
The Vice-President said the administration of President Bola Tinubu was interested in moving Nigeria’s relationship with India beyond the traditional exchange of commodities towards investments that would support domestic production and value addition.
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He identified pharmaceuticals, defence, digital technology, fintech and other sectors as areas with significant potential for investment, job creation and skills transfer, particularly for Nigeria’s growing youth population.
“The President Tinubu administration is particularly interested in moving Nigeria’s relationship with India beyond the traditional exchange of commodities towards investments that support domestic production and value addition,” Shettima said.
Both leaders also agreed that stronger private-sector engagement would be central to the next phase of Nigeria-India relations, particularly in sectors where Indian companies have significant expertise and Nigerian demand remains strong.
Discussions further covered collaboration in fintech and digital technology, building on existing agreements on digital public infrastructure.
The statement said Shettima emphasised that President Tinubu’s objective was to ensure that international partnerships translated into investment, technology transfer, industrial growth and tangible economic opportunities for Nigerians.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, highlighted India’s women-led self-help group model as an area from which Nigeria could draw lessons to strengthen financial inclusion and grassroots enterprise.
She said women’s economic empowerment would be critical to the Federal Government’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.
“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,” she said.
Nigeria and India, the statement added, agreed to sustain high-level political and economic engagement through the India-Africa partnership framework and other multilateral platforms.