Nigeria-India trade rises to $9bn as pharma investment hits $4bn

Nigeria’s economic partnership with India is expanding, with bilateral trade between both countries rising to about $9 billion in the 2025-26 financial year, up from $7.13 billion recorded the previous year.

The Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abishek Singh, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at a media briefing, attributing the increase to stronger commercial and strategic ties between the two countries.

Singh said more than 200 Indian companies currently operate in Nigeria, with investments spanning manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, power, construction, consumer goods, healthcare and other services.

He said Indian businesses were increasingly shifting from importing finished products to establishing manufacturing plants in Nigeria, a development he said was creating jobs and strengthening domestic production.

“I am very happy to report that the trade for the financial year 2025-26 stands at around US dollar nine billion, which is up from US dollar 7.13 billion in the financial year 2024-25,” he said.

According to the envoy, Indian companies operating in Nigeria have created employment for nearly 100,000 Nigerians.

“They are also making in Nigeria. They are producing in Nigeria; they have set up plants in Nigeria. And this has translated into close to 100,000 brothers and sisters from Nigeria being deployed, employed by these companies,” Singh said.

He said the growing trade volume reflected a broader transformation in Nigeria-India relations, which had expanded beyond traditional commercial ties to include technology, agriculture, energy, food security, healthcare and security.

Singh said both countries were increasingly focusing on areas of shared economic and development interests, rather than limiting their relationship to historical ties and conventional trade.