Amid an ongoing property crisis in China that has put brakes on its investments in Africa, Indian officials held a Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting with their Nigerian counterparts last month, the commerce and industry ministry said on Friday (May 3).
This comes after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year said that the ripple effects of China’s slowing economy extended to sovereign lending to sub-Saharan Africa, which fell below $1 billion last year—the lowest level in nearly two decades.
China’s influence on Africa is such that a one percentage point decline in Beijing’s growth rate could reduce average growth in the region by about 0.25 percentage points within a year, IMF said, adding that for oil-exporters, such as Angola and Nigeria, the loss could be 0.5 percentage points on average.
Notably, China has forged deep economic ties with countries in sub-Saharan Africa over the past 20 years, making it the region’s largest single-country trading partner. China buys one-fifth of the region’s exports—metals, minerals, and fuel—and provides most of the manufactured goods and machinery imported by African countries, the IMF pointed out.
“A seven-member delegation from India led by Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Amardeep Singh Bhatia, accompanied by High Commissioner of India to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, G. Balasubramanian and Economic Adviser, Department of Commerce, Priya P. Nair held a Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting with their Nigerian counterparts in Abuja,” the ministry said.
The official delegation from India also consisted of officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), EXIM Bank of India, and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). “Both sides agreed to the early conclusion of the Local Currency Settlement System Agreement to further strengthen bilateral economic ties,” the ministry said.
The commerce ministry, in a statement, said that India and Nigeria undertook a detailed review of recent developments in bilateral trade and investment ties and identified several areas of focus for enhancing both 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, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Local Currency Settlement System among others, the ministry said.
Nigeria is the second-largest trading partner of India in the Africa region. Bilateral trade between India and Nigeria stood at $11.8 billion in 2022-23. In the year 2023-24, the bilateral trade stands at $7.89 billion showing a declining trend.
With a total investment of $27 billion, approximately 135 Indian companies are actively engaged in Nigeria’s vibrant market. These investments traverse diverse sectors, encompassing infrastructure, manufacturing, consumer goods, and services.