27/08/2026
Ambassador Dambazau, FIN Chairperson Dr. Olayinka Fayomi Lead High-Level Nigeria–China Trade and Investment Engagements Exceeding $100 Billion
Nigeria's Ambassador to the People's Republic of China, His Excellency, Lt Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau (Rtd.), alongside the Chairperson and Founder of the Foreign Investment Network (FIN), Dr. Olayinka Fayomi, has intensified efforts to strengthen Nigeria–China trade and investment relations through high-level engagements with Chinese investors and business stakeholders.
The engagements, held at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Beijing, focused on expanding bilateral trade, attracting investment into Nigeria, promoting Nigerian exports to China, and creating stronger platforms for direct engagement between Nigerian businesses and Chinese investors.
A major focus of the discussions was Ambassador Dambazau's call for Nigerian businesses to move decisively from the export of raw commodities towards value-added production, local processing, manufacturing, and export of finished and semi-finished products capable of competing effectively in the Chinese market.
The Ambassador stressed the importance of Nigerian exporters taking advantage of China's zero-tariff arrangements for eligible products, describing it as a significant opportunity to expand Nigeria's presence in the world's largest consumer markets and address the existing trade imbalance between Nigeria and China.
“We must encourage our people to come in, bring in goods, and take full advantage of this zero-tariff regime so that we can increase our exports into China and work towards balancing our trade relation, acknowledging that China remains well ahead.”
— Lt Gen Abdulrahman Dambazau (Rtd.), Ambassador of Nigeria to China
DRIVING INVESTMENT AND EXPANDING NIGERIA'S GLOBAL ECONOMIC REACH
The investment facilitation initiative was undertaken in collaboration with Foreign Investment Network (FIN), led by its Chairperson and Founder, Dr. Olayinka Fayomi, whose organisation has continued to promote Nigeria's investment opportunities across international markets.
FIN brought together a high-level delegation of potential international investors and business stakeholders to engage directly with the Nigerian Embassy and explore opportunities across strategic sectors of the Nigerian economy.
Dr. Fayomi highlighted FIN's international investment-promotion activities, including the production and dissemination of investment materials in major international languages, particularly French and Mandarin Chinese, to improve access to information about Nigeria's economic opportunities among global investors.
According to FIN, its investment-promotion activities and trade missions have contributed to attracting significant investment interest into Nigeria, while recent high-level engagements involving Nigerian representatives, Chinese investors, and FIN have resulted in the signing and presentation of investment agreements with a combined value exceeding US$100 billion.
The engagements demonstrate the growing interest of international investors in Nigeria's vast market, natural resources, human capital, infrastructure opportunities, and strategic position as a gateway to the African market.
FROM RAW MATERIALS TO VALUE-ADDED EXPORTS
At the centre of the discussions was the need for Nigeria to fundamentally strengthen its export capacity.
The stakeholders identified three major priorities for Nigerian businesses seeking to expand their presence in China and other international markets:
1. Value Addition and Local Manufacturing
Nigeria must increasingly move away from exporting raw materials and focus on processing, manufacturing, and developing high-value products that can generate greater revenue, create employment, and strengthen domestic industrial capacity.
2. Maximising China's Preferential Trade Opportunities
Nigerian producers and exporters are encouraged to understand and utilise available zero-tariff opportunities and relevant market-access arrangements for eligible Nigerian products entering China.
3. Stronger Public–Private Economic Diplomacy
Closer cooperation between government institutions, diplomatic missions, Nigerian businesses, financial institutions, and credible investment networks will be essential to facilitating trade, navigating regulatory requirements, connecting investors with viable projects, and converting investment interest into sustainable economic partnerships.
AMBASSADOR DAMBAZAU'S ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY AGENDA
The engagement forms part of Ambassador Dambazau's broader commitment to ensuring that Nigeria's strategic relationship with China produces tangible economic opportunities for Nigeria and Nigerians.
Since assuming his diplomatic responsibilities in Beijing, the Ambassador has consistently emphasized the importance of moving Nigeria–China relations beyond traditional trade patterns towards investment, technology transfer, industrialisation, skills development, local manufacturing, renewable energy, agriculture, infrastructure, and sustainable economic cooperation.
His engagements with Chinese government institutions, major corporations, investors, financial institutions, academic organisations, and business leaders reflect a deliberate effort to position the Embassy as a platform for connecting Nigeria's enormous economic potential with Chinese expertise, technology, capital, and market opportunities.
The latest engagement with FIN and Chinese investors further reinforces this direction, with emphasis on creating opportunities that can strengthen Nigeria's productive capacity, increase exports, attract investment, create jobs, and support the country's broader economic transformation agenda.
As Nigeria and China continue to deepen their bilateral relationship, the Embassy remains committed to facilitating credible partnerships that advance Nigeria's national interests, strengthen economic diplomacy, and create sustainable pathways for shared prosperity.
— Media Unit
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Beijing
Muhammad Yahya Barma Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu