Nigeria is pursuing deeper economic partnership with Spain as part of a strategic push to position itself as Europe’s primary gateway to Africa’s 1.3 billion-strong consumer market under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The Spain-Nigeria economic partnership agenda was advanced by Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar during a high-level engagement with the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE), Spain’s leading business confederation.
According to a statement by the Minister’s Media aide Alkasim Abdulkadir, the meeting represents a deliberate effort to reset bilateral economic relations between the two nations.
Minister Tuggar emphasized Nigeria’s ongoing reform trajectory, demographic advantages, and continental trade access, while aligning these strengths with Spain’s economic and migration policy interests.
The Minister is specifically seeking a long-term framework for Spain-Nigeria economic partnership that encompasses productive capital investment, technology transfer, and value-chain partnerships. He stressed that Nigeria is transitioning from oil dependence toward a diversified economy driven by agriculture and agro-processing, infrastructure development, industrial growth, business process outsourcing, technology, and creative industries—moving beyond the traditional energy and gas sector.
Tuggar highlighted that Nigeria remains Africa’s largest market and a natural gateway to West and Central Africa, noting that investments anchored in the country provide access to a continental market of over 1.3 billion people under AfCFTA.
The Minister concluded by assuring Spanish investors of ongoing reforms to improve ease of doing business, regulatory transparency, and investor protection, urging Spanish firms to view Nigeria as a platform of opportunity for sustainable Europe-Africa growth rather than a risk frontier.
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