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India is seeking a return to major purchases of Nigerian crude oil as Nigeria and the Asian economic giant move to revive bilateral trade towards its former peak of nearly $15 billion.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the case for renewed crude purchases from Nigeria when he met Vice President Kashim Shettima on the sidelines of the just-concluded BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi.
The renewed push comes as both countries seek to reverse a sharp decline in bilateral trade and broaden their economic relationship beyond the traditional oil trade.
Bilateral trade stood at $14.95 billion in the 2021/2022 financial year but plunged to $7.13 billion in the 2024/2025 financial year, largely due to reduced Indian purchases of Nigerian crude.
The figure, however, recovered to about $9 billion in the 2025/2026 financial year, 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 bilateral commercial exchanges to previous levels.
Shettima said Nigeria would examine the request as part of efforts by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to attract investment and build strategic partnerships capable of expanding the country’s productive capacity.
But the Vice President made clear that Abuja wants the next phase of the relationship to deliver more than an increase in crude exports.
He identified pharmaceuticals, defence, digital technology and the creative industries as priority areas for expanded cooperation, saying partnerships with India should create jobs, transfer skills and open 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.
The renewed engagement seeks to build on decades of commercial relations between Nigeria and India, with crude oil historically accounting for a significant share of Nigeria’s exports to the Indian market.
Both sides agreed that stronger private-sector engagement would be critical to expanding bilateral economic ties, particularly in sectors where Indian companies possess substantial expertise and Nigeria has significant market demand.
Digital technology and fintech also featured in the discussions, building on cooperation between the two countries on digital public infrastructure and their expanding digital economies.
Defence, pharmaceuticals and healthcare were similarly identified as sectors with potential for increased investment and knowledge transfer.
Modi also 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 economic discussions also featured women’s 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.
According to her, the initiative is part of the Federal Government’s broader effort to increase women’s participation in productive economic activity, strengthen social protection and tackle 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,” the minister said.
