Nigeria reportedly recorded a $10 billion trade surplus with the European Union (EU) in 2025, driven by surging agri-exports that outpaced imports by a wide margin.
Gautier Mignot, EU envoy to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), spoke on Wednesday in Abuja during an end-of-year briefing on the bloc’s achievements.
Mignot said the figures — which constitute one third of Nigeria’s foreign direct investments (FDI) stock — reinforce the EU’s position as Nigeria’s first trading partner and first market for non-oil and gas exports.
“This is not always reflected in statistics because they sometimes take into consideration only our member states individually,” he said.
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Mignot also mentioned the €410 million OMI-EKO project, supported with a €360 million funding from France to create an electric public waterways transportation network in Lagos.
The envoy further disclosed that the economic bloc had made health investments worth €41 million; a €30 million Africa-Europe culture partnerships project for sub-Saharan Africa with a strong West African and Nigerian component; and a package of over €100 million with ECOWAS on peace, security and governance, and to unlock opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCTA).
The official said the first EU-Nigeria trade and investment dialogue was held earlier this year “because there are still barriers and an untapped potential we want to exploit”.
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He noted that the EU funds “long-term, top-quality, comprehensive, transformative, and sustainable projects”, while providing capacity-building, technical assistance, and regulatory improvements.
“We are respectful of our partners’ sovereignty, to avoid any dependency and we are also careful not to fall together into the trap of excessive indebtment, which is what we unfortunately see now with other partners of Africa,” Mignot said.
“Nigeria, as [the] most populous country in Africa and one of its biggest economies, is of course a key piece of this EU-AU partnership.”
Mignot said the EU aims to strengthen its partnership with Nigeria through the rollout of its global gateway investment strategy, a partnership scheme aimed at connecting people and accelerating green, digital, and inclusive transition.
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