With bilateral trade reaching about $9 billion in 2025–26 and more than 200 Indian companies operating in Nigeria, India-Nigeria economic ties are entering a new phase, as the relationship expands beyond oil and commodities into manufacturing, healthcare, energy, technology and job creation.
Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria Abishek Singh said trade rose about 26% from $7.13 billion in 2024–25, while Indian companies have created close to 100,000 jobs in Nigeria. He described Indian businesses as the second-largest employers of Nigerians after the Federal Government.
The growing corporate presence reflects a broader shift in the economic corridor between the two countries. Indian companies are increasingly establishing production facilities in Nigeria rather than simply exporting finished goods, with activity spanning pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, power, construction, consumer goods, healthcare and services.
That marks a departure from a relationship historically centred heavily on crude oil and commodities. The emerging model is increasingly defined by local production, employment, technology transfer and the development of domestic capabilities.
The foundations of the relationship stretch back more than six decades. India established a diplomatic presence in Lagos in 1958, two years before Nigeria’s independence in 1960. The two countries elevated their relationship to a Strategic Partnership in 2007.
Political engagement has also intensified. President Bola Tinubu visited India in September 2023 for the G20 summit, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Nigeria in November 2024, the first visit by an Indian prime minister in 17 years. The two leaders discussed cooperation in trade, investment, energy, healthcare, agriculture, education, technology and defence.
Healthcare is emerging as one of the clearest examples of the changing relationship. India’s Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Vertika Rawat, said Indian pharmaceutical exports to Nigeria reached $315 million in 2024–25, with India supplying roughly 40% of Nigeria’s pharmaceutical imports and more than 90% in some medicine categories.
Rawat also put Indian investment in pharmaceutical manufacturing in Nigeria at about $4 billion, reflecting an ambition to move from supplying medicines from abroad to producing more medicines locally. The shift could create skilled jobs, strengthen supply chains and reduce dependence on imported finished medicines.
The relationship extends beyond private investment. India has provided development assistance and concessional financing to Nigeria, alongside technical training through its Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation programme. Indian government sources describe cooperation in areas including infrastructure, health, education, agriculture, energy and capacity building.
For Nigeria, the attraction is increasingly the opportunity to use Indian capital and expertise to strengthen domestic productive capacity. For Indian companies, Nigeria offers access to one of Africa’s largest consumer markets and a potential base for wider expansion across the continent.
The significance of the relationship, therefore, is increasingly measured not only by trade volumes but by factories established, workers employed, skills developed and productive capacity built within Nigeria.
If the investment trend continues, India-Nigeria relations could increasingly resemble a deeper form of South-South economic integration — one based not simply on the exchange of commodities, but on investment, local manufacturing, technology transfer and shared economic capacity.
