Raphael Oni
Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to deepening economic ties with Spain, describing the country as a strategic partner and an important bridge between Africa and Europe. This was stated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, during an engagement with the leadership of CEOE, Spain’s foremost business confederation.
In a statement made available to the media by Alkasim Abdulkadir, Special Adviser to Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, says Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to deepening economic ties with Spain.
According to the statement, Nigeria described Spain as a strategic partner and an important bridge between Africa and Europe during an engagement with the leadership of CEOE, Spain’s foremost business confederation.
Addressing Spanish business leaders, Nigeria underscored its appreciation of CEOE’s role as the institutional backbone of Spain’s productive economy, highlighting the growing alignment between Nigeria’s reform-driven economic agenda and Spain’s outward-looking private sector.
Officials noted that Nigeria’s economy is steadily stabilising and repositioning through structural reforms, diversification, and stronger macroeconomic coordination. Growth is increasingly driven by non-oil sectors including agriculture, services, manufacturing, technology, and global services.
With a population exceeding 200 million, over 70% of whom are young, Nigeria stressed its relevance to Spanish business as Africa’s largest market and a natural gateway to West and Central Africa.
Through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), investments anchored in Nigeria can serve a continental market of more than 1.3 billion people. The country emphasised its preference for productive, long-term capital, technology transfer, and partnerships that deepen value chains.
Several priority sectors for Spanish investment were highlighted, including energy and gas, agriculture and agro-processing, infrastructure and industrial development, and technology.
Nigeria also positioned itself as an emerging hub for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), citing its young, English-speaking, digitally skilled workforce.
The Nigerian delegation also pointed to ongoing policy reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business, regulatory transparency, and investor protection.
Spanish businesses were invited to invest, build, and grow with Nigeria, not as a frontier of risk, but as a platform of opportunity with the shared objective of forging durable partnerships that create jobs, add value, and endure.
