Beijing, China — Nigeria and China say their two-way commerce has already topped the whole-of-2023 figure, reinforcing Lagos’s place among Beijing’s busiest African trading partners. Vice-President Kashim Shettima told a visiting Chinese delegation in Abuja this week that goods worth 22. 6 billion dollars moved between the countries in 2023, according to a presidency statement.
President Bola Tinubu and Xi Jinping signed a “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” during Tinubu’s September visit, adding nuclear-energy, media-exchange and Belt-and-Road memoranda to existing accords. State councils in both capitals said the upgrade groups Nigeria with Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa in Beijing’s Africa cooperation framework. 8-billion-dollar Mambilla hydro-power plant, scheduled for completion in 2030, and Chinese contractors have built or upgraded ports, railways and telecom networks across the country since Nigeria joined the Belt and Road Initiative in 2018.
Nigerian authorities say they will open more sectors to Chinese investors in 2026, especially agriculture, manufacturing and solid minerals. Official statements indicate Beijing will in return press for quicker payment protocols and wider use of the yuan-naira swap line set up in 2021. Independent observers note the trade is still driven mainly by Chinese machinery and electronics flowing in and Nigerian crude flowing out, a pattern that leaves Africa’s largest economy exposed to oil-price swings.
Civil — society groups argue that cheaper Asian imports continue to undercut local factories, but their views were not included in this week’s government releases. Neither side has released a sector-by-sector breakdown for 2025; further details are expected when full-year customs data are published.
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Source: Africa.
*Additional reporting by ImNews | Sources consulted: 5*
