India, Nigeria to increase cooperation in energy, UPI, local currency settlement to enhance economic ties

New Delhi: India and Nigeria have 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.

The commerce ministry on Friday said that these issues among others were discussed during a recent visit of a seven-member delegation from India to Nigeria.

The delegation was led by Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, Amardeep Singh Bhatia.

The Indian delegation consisted of officials from Reserve Bank of India (RBI), EXIM Bank of India and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the ministry said in a statement.

It said that both sides identified several areas of focus for enhancing bilateral trade as well as mutually beneficial investments.

"These include resolving of 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, aviation, MSMEs," it said.

They also agreed to early conclusion of Local Currency Settlement System Agreement to further strengthen bilateral economic ties.

Nigeria is the second largest trading partner of India in Africa 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.