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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
India is seeking a return to major purchases of Nigerian crude oil as Nigeria and the Asian economic giant move to rebuild bilateral trade towards its former peak of nearly $15 billion.
Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, made the case for renewed crude purchases when he met Vice President Kashim Shettima on the sidelines of the just-concluded BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi.
The push comes against a sharp decline in trade between the two countries, largely attributed to reduced Indian purchases of Nigerian crude.
Bilateral trade stood at $14.95 billion in the 2021–2022 financial year but plunged to $7.13 billion in 2024–2025 before recovering to about $9 billion in 2025–2026, according to the Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhishek Singh.
Modi told Shettima that stronger energy trade, including renewed Indian purchases of Nigerian crude, could help return commercial exchanges between the two countries to previous levels.
Shettima said Nigeria would examine the request as part of President Bola Tinubu administration’s efforts to attract investment and build strategic partnerships capable of expanding the country’s productive capacity.
The Vice President, however, made clear that Abuja wants the next phase of economic relations with India to go beyond selling crude and other commodities.
He identified pharmaceuticals, defence, digital technology and the creative industries as priority areas for expanded cooperation, insisting that partnerships with India should create jobs, transfer skills and expand opportunities for Nigeria’s large 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.
The two countries also discussed cooperation in renewable and clean energy, power, healthcare, capacity building, fintech and other emerging sectors.
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Shettima said President Tinubu wanted Nigeria’s international partnerships to translate into investment, technology transfer, industrial growth and tangible economic opportunities for Nigerians.
Crude oil has historically accounted for a significant proportion of Nigeria’s exports to India, making the decline in Indian purchases a major factor in the contraction of bilateral trade.
Both sides agreed that stronger private-sector participation would be critical to rebuilding economic ties, particularly in sectors where Indian companies possess expertise and Nigeria has substantial market demand.
Digital technology and fintech featured prominently in the discussions, building on cooperation between the two countries on digital public infrastructure and their expanding digital economies.
Defence, pharmaceuticals and healthcare were also identified as areas with potential for increased investment, manufacturing and knowledge transfer.
Modi expressed appreciation for Nigeria’s hospitality towards the sizeable Indian community living and doing business in the country.
The two leaders agreed to sustain high-level political and economic engagement through the India-Africa partnership framework and other multilateral platforms.
The talks also touched on women’s economic empowerment, with Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, saying Nigeria was drawing lessons from India’s women-led self-help group model to expand 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.
“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.
