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Nigeria
Last updated in March 2012
Political relations
Since the inauguration of President Obasanjo (1999-2007), Nigeria’s first elected head of state following the end of military rule in May 1999, bilateral relations have regained momentum. Obasanjo’s successor, President Umaru Yar’Adua (2007-2010), likewise sought to develop close relations with Germany. This is also true of the current President, Goodluck Jonathan, who has been in office since 2010. For the German Federal Government, Nigeria is an important partner in Africa with great economic potential and a prominent role to play in promoting stability and democracy on the continent.
Federal Chancellor Merkel visited Abuja on 13 and 14 July 2011, the first visit to Nigeria by a non-African head of state following President Jonathan’s election in April 2011. In the course of their talks, it was agreed to set up a Binational Commission to expand and step up relations. The Federal Chancellor invited President Jonathan to visit Germany in 2012. The Binational Commission was formally established at a meeting between Nigerian Foreign Minister Ashiru and Federal Foreign Minister Westerwelle in Berlin on 2 December 2011.
Federal Chancellor Merkel and President Jonathan met for the first time on 26 June 2010 on the sidelines of the G8 Summit in Canada. This meeting was a continuation of the high-level contacts between the two countries following the death, in May 2010, of President Yar’Adua who, for his part, had previously attended the m G8 Summit in Heiligendamm shortly after his election in June 2007. It was the talks between the two sides on the sidelines of that summit led to the idea of the bilateral Energy Partnership (see below).
Other recent major bilateral events were the Fourth Africa Forum, held in Abuja from 7 to 9 November 2008 as part of the Partnership with Africa initiative under the patronage of Federal President Köhler and Nigeria’s President Yar’Adua, and the subsequent official visit to Nigeria by Federal President Köhler, which also took him to the country’s business capital Lagos and to Kano, northern Nigeria’s commercial centre.
Besides stepping up relations, including trade, the two countries’ bilateral talks are mostly concerned with multilateral issues, notably security and development in Africa as well as questions relating to the African Union, the West African regional organization ECOWAS and the United Nations.
Economic relations
One priority area of economic relations is cooperation in the energy sector. In August 2008, a memorandum was signed in Abuja, the founding document of the German-Nigerian Energy Partnership. Since then, the two sides have met regularly to promote joint projects, most recently in July 2010 in Abuja. The focus is on the rehabilitation and further development of electricity production in Nigeria – including the use of renewable energy – and greater involvement of German companies in tapping energy sources in Nigeria. At their meeting in July 2011, President Jonathan and Federal Chancellor Merkel reaffirmed both countries’ keen interest in the partnership, which will also form part of the Binational Commission’s work.
But in other sectors, too, interest among entrepreneurs is growing on both sides. This is evidenced not least by the annual German-Nigerian Business Forums, which are organized by the German-African Business Association, the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) or the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria and the Nigerian-German Business Association and held alternately in Germany and Nigeria. The Fourth German-Nigerian Business Forum was held in Abuja from 14 to 15 July 2011 and opened by Federal Chancellor Merkel and President Jonathan. The Fifth German-Nigerian Business Forum is scheduled to take place in Germany in 2012.
Nigeria is Germany’s second most important trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa.
After initially reaching the record level of EUR 3 billion in 2008, trade between Germany and Nigeria declined sharply as a result of the global economic crisis and the low oil price. In 2009, German exports to Nigeria fell by nearly 15 per cent, to approximately EUR 1 billion, German imports from Nigeria also dropping by 34 per cent, to just under EUR 1.2 billion. Bilateral trade has since recovered, reaching a new record of EUR 4.7 billion in 2011, thanks largely to the higher price of oil. Nigerian exports to Germany were worth EUR 3.4 billion (oil accounting for 95 per cent), an increase of 70 per cent. German exports to Nigeria grew by 18 per cent, to EUR 1.3 billion.
The main German exports to Nigeria are machinery, motor vehicles, chemical products and electrical goods.
In 2010, Germany ranked ninth among Nigeria’s export destinations and tenth among suppliers of Nigerian imports. Among Germany’s foreign trade partners, Nigeria ranks 62nd for exports and 39th for imports (2011 figures).
German direct investment in Nigeria has been declining since 2001. At the end of 2009, it was worth EUR 60 million, compared with EUR 298 million in 2001.
Some 50 German companies operate in Nigeria, some with production plants, others with offices. An agreement on reciprocal investment protection and promotion was signed in 2000 and entered into force in September 2007.
There is a Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria, which is based in Lagos and was set up by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). German and local entrepreneurs have also joined forces to form the Nigerian-German Business Association (NGBA) to step up bilateral business relations. The DIHK and the NGBA work together closely, both spatially and substantively, with the declared aim of setting up a German-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce.
Development cooperation
Bilateral development cooperation was suspended during the Abacha dictatorship (1993-98), with only projects in progress continuing until completion. The country’s return to democracy in 1999 paved the way for a resumption of cooperation with Germany and other former donor countries. The priority area in German development cooperation with Nigeria is promoting sustainable economic development with a focus on small and medium-sized companies. There is also a consulting programme on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Since the end of 2004, the German government has reallocated a total of EUR 35 million in previous Financial Cooperation commitments to support a programme to combat poliomyelitis. An additional EUR 1.5 million from the Study and Expert Funds was reallocated to finance the project Promoting Women’s and Girls’ Rights in Borno State.
Since development cooperation with Nigeria began, Germany has pledged funds worth nearly EUR 450 million, approximately two-thirds for Financial Cooperation and one-third for Technical Cooperation.
Cultural relations
The good relations between Germany and Nigeria are also reflected in the cultural sphere. A bilateral cultural agreement was signed in 1999, placing cultural relations between the two countries on a sound footing in international law.
Since 1962, the Goethe Institute of Nigeria in Lagos has been an important address for cultural activities of all kinds. There is a very keen interest in its cultural programmes and in learning German. Many Nigerians are interested in Germany and, after completing language courses, hope to study here. A local office of the Goethe Institute was opened in Kano in September 2008 with the aim of stepping up cultural cooperation with northern Nigeria, too. As the largest city and principal commercial and cultural centre in Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria, Kano radiates across the entire region and therefore offers an ideal environment for intercultural-dialogue projects with the Islamic world. In Abuja and Lagos, a private German company school offers instruction according to the German curriculum and awards German secondary school-leaving certificates (Hauptschule and Realschule) recognized by the Standing Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the German Länder. Of Germany’s political foundations, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation have offices in Abuja/Nigeria. With their different programmes, all these foundations promote democratization, the development of free and independent media, women’s rights and the strengthening of civil society in Nigeria.
In higher education, there is – despite the difficult situation at many universities in Nigeria – wide-ranging cooperation between German and Nigerian universities and colleges. The number of university partnerships is on the increase. German universities are very highly regarded in Nigeria. Many Nigerians now in leading positions in industry, the civil service and academic life studied in Germany during the economic boom days of the 1970s. There are several exchange programmes between the two countries, with 416 Nigerians are currently studying in Germany. The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) has an academic teacher working at the University of Ibadan. There are German Studies departments at the universities in Nsukka, Ile-Ife and Ibadan.
Academic cooperation also takes place in several alumni follow-up programmes run by the DAAD and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, which provide active support for their former students through scholarships or donations of material and equipment. Many other alumni are members of organizations such as the German Alumni Association Nigeria or the Nigerian Association of Teachers of German (NATOG). Individual associations organize annual meetings, workshops and seminars.
There are also a number of cultural cooperation and cultural preservation projects. For example, the German Embassy, in cooperation with the French Embassy, is helping to establish an annual opera festival in the capital Abuja and, together with EU member states and Switzerland, a European Film Festival. Dialogue with the Muslim culture of northern Nigeria is also an element of bilateral cultural relations.In the media sector, the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle has a very successful cooperation programme providing equipment and training support for a range of Nigerian radio and television stations. Deutsche Welle’s English-language and Hausa services are both very popular in Nigeria.