Mustafa Bello, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), on Monday said the trade between Nigeria and India was up to $15 billion in 2009.

Jonathan

Bello said this in Abuja at an investment forum with a trade delegation from the Gujarat State of India. The delegation was in the country to woo Nigerian investors to the fifth Global Summit in Gujarat tagged: “ Gujarat 2011.”

Bello said while the formal trade volume between both countries was put at $10 billion in 2009, many trade transactions between both countries were not recorded. If you add up the informal, you will end up with about $15 billion because a lot of Nigerians still believe that they should carry cash and go and buy their goods.

They don’t believe in bank transactions that may take time with so many documentations.  So, what the Indian High Commission mentioned as the figure in my reaction is just the formal aspect of it,” he said. He stated that the trade figures showed that both countries had good trade relationship, adding that the visit would further enhance it.

“ The Gujarat Summit 2011 will further widen that horizon for the Indian business community and Nigeria should take advantage of it,” he said. Bello explained that the visit was part of the outcome of the MoU signed in 2009 with three states in India.

The leader of the delegation, Mr Pankaj Kumar, said India and Nigeria were both developing and emerging economies and had a lot in common. He said the Indian Investment Promotion Council and the NIPC signed an MoU last year to boost economic and trade cooperation between Gujarat and Nigeria.

“That is why we are here and we will be working together for the joint benefit of both countries and it will be mainly in oil, petroleum, energy, infrastructure and pharmaceutical sectors.

Basically, this is to establish cooperation between both partners and exchange of trade delegations is important to this agreement, ” he said. Gujarat has the longest coastline in India with 42 ports, 13 airports, 60 Special Economic Zones, 83 industrial clusters and integrated state-wide gas grid of 2,200 km