News Excerpt:

A seven-member delegation from India held a Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting with their Nigerian counterparts in Abuja to review recent developments in bilateral trade and investment ties.

• They identified areas such as crude oil, natural gas, pharmaceuticals, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), local currency settlement system, and power sector to increase cooperation for boosting economic ties.

More about the news:

• The Indian delegation consisted of officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), EXIM Bank of India and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• The deliberations of the 2nd Session of India-Nigeria JTC were forward-looking, indicative of the amicable and special relations between the two countries.

Key takeaway from the meeting:

• The members undertook a detailed review of recent developments in bilateral trade and investment ties and acknowledged the vast untapped potential for further expansion.
• Both sides identified several areas of focus for enhancing bilateral trade as well as mutually beneficial investments.
• These include resolving market access issues of both sides and cooperation in key sectors such as:
• Crude oil and natural gas
• Pharmaceuticals
• UPI
• Local currency settlement system
• Power sector and renewable energy
• Agri and food Processing
• Education
• transport, railway and aviation
• MSMEs.
• Digital Economy and Digital Public Infrastructure
• They also agreed to the early conclusion of the Local Currency Settlement System Agreement to further strengthen bilateral economic ties.

India-Nigeria trade relations:

• Nigeria is the second largest trading partner of India in the African region.
• Bilateral trade between India and Nigeria declined to $7.89 billion in 2023-24 from $11.8 billion in 2022-23.
• With a total investment of $27 billion, about 135 Indian companies are actively engaged in Nigeria. 
• These investments traverse diverse sectors, encompassing infrastructure, manufacturing, consumer goods and services.