The bilateral trade between Germany and Nigeria hit the €3 billion mark in 2022, German Ambassador to Nigeria, Annett Günther has said.
This is against €2 billion recorded in 2021.
The envoy, who disclosed these at a briefing with Diplomatic Correspondents in Abuja, said Germany remains Nigeria’s second biggest partner behind the United States.
Günther said: ” Germany contributed a total trade volume of €3 billion in 2022 (up from €2 billion in 2021) and the European Union is Nigeria’s most important trading partner with total trade volume of €45.8 billion.”
She also assured that “Germany’s foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Nigeria will prospectively surpass the €1 billion mark.”
In the area of developmental cooperation, she said Germany has also invested over €600 million in development projects across all sectors of Nigeria economy.
She said this is beside the €50 million invested on humanitarian assistance in 2022 alone. She said another €620 million was pledged to Economic Community of West African States in current projects.
She said, “Germany has committed a total of 600 million Euros in development cooperation grants in ongoing projects and another 620 million pledged to ECOWAS in current projects.”
In terms of humanitarian assistance, she said Germany remains the second biggest donor “with €50 million in 2022 on activities such as protection, food security, health and shelter that save lives every day.”
In the area of energy, Günther said the 2018 Presidential Power Initiative which aimed at improving the energy distribution network in Nigeria has led to the provision of 10 mobile substations and 10 power transformers.
She also revealed the possibilities of more Siemens technology and other companies interested in investing in Nigeria that might follow.
The envoy said both countries have 22 University cooperations with 4,000 Nigerian Students currently schooling in Germany.
She further revealed that more than 1000 of the students are on scholarships.
She also disclosed that 2000 Nigerians passed the German language examinations at the Goethe Institute in 2022 as part of the countless exchanges between both countries.
Other area of support to Nigeria, the envoy said include training 600 police trainers, refurbishing training colleges and providing mobile barracks in support of the Nigerian Police Reform and Transformation Office (PORTO) within NPF as a hub for reform.