By Florence Joshua
Bilateral trade between Nigeria and India has risen to about $9 billion US dollars, up from $7.13 billion recorded in the 2024–2025 financial year.
The Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abishek Singh, disclosed this on Wednesday during a media briefing in Abuja, saying the increase reflects the deepening economic and strategic partnership between the two countries.
Singh said Nigeria-India relations had expanded beyond traditional oil and trade ties to include manufacturing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, energy, agriculture, technology and security.
According to him, more than 200 Indian companies currently operate in Nigeria, with several establishing local manufacturing plants rather than focusing solely on imports.
He said these investments have created employment for nearly 100,000 Nigerians, making Indian companies’ significant contributors to Nigeria’s private-sector employment.
The envoy said both countries were also strengthening cooperation in areas including food security, healthcare, energy, technology, agriculture and global governance.
‘India Supplies 40% of Nigeria’s pharmaceutical imports’
India’s Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Vertika Rawat, said India currently accounts for about 40 per cent of Nigeria’s pharmaceutical imports, with its share exceeding 90 per cent in some categories.
She disclosed that Indian pharmaceutical exports to Nigeria stood at about $315 million in the 2024–2025 financial year, while Indian companies had invested approximately $4 billion in pharmaceutical manufacturing in Nigeria.
Rawat said the focus was increasingly shifting from exporting medicines to supporting local production.
She also expressed India’s readiness to deepen cooperation with Nigeria on universal health coverage through policy exchange, institutional partnerships and training of healthcare professionals.
Healthcare Lessons
Rawat further highlighted India’s Ayushman Bharat healthcare programme as a model Nigeria could study as it works to expand healthcare coverage and reduce financial barriers to medical care.
She said India’s National Family Health Survey, released in May 2026, covered about 639,000 families across 707 districts and recorded improvements in maternal and child health, immunisation, nutrition and healthcare financing.
She said antenatal care had reached 96 per cent of pregnant women, while institutional deliveries increased to 90.6 per cent.
Full immunisation among children aged 12 to 23 months also rose from 83.8 per cent to 87.1 per cent, while stunting among children under five declined from 35.5 per cent to 29.3 per cent.
Rawat said health insurance or financing scheme coverage in India had also increased from 41 per cent to 60.2 per cent.
Focus on women and digital inclusion
The Deputy High Commissioner also pointed to India’s progress in women’s economic and digital inclusion.
She said the proportion of Indian women who had ever used the internet had risen from 33.3 per cent to 64.3 per cent, while nine out of ten women now had their own bank or savings accounts.
Rawat said these experiences could provide opportunities for Nigeria-India cooperation, particularly in maternal and child healthcare, immunisation, healthcare financing and women’s economic empowerment.
She encouraged Nigeria to explore lessons from India’s healthcare reforms alongside continued training of Nigerian health professionals through India’s ITEC programme.
The Indian envoy said the growing relationship between the two countries was evolving into a broader development partnership, driven by shared priorities in health, technology, food security, energy, investment and human development.
Leave a Reply