Trade between Nigeria and Egypt reached $315 million in 2024, according to Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Badr Abdelatty.
He made this announcement at the Nigeria-Egypt Business Forum, held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, and attended by Nairametrics.
Top government officials, business leaders, and diplomats from both countries were present at the event, where stakeholders discussed opportunities in key sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, and transportation.
Trade Growth Between Nigeria and Egypt
As disclosed by Abdelatty, “Trade between both countries grew from $187 million in 2023 to $315 million in 2024.”
- However, he described this development as falling short of the potential offered by both economies.
“We must diversify the nature of our trade and fully leverage the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement,” Abdelatty stressed.
- He cited Nigeria’s 2023 export of $160 million worth of LNG to Egypt as an example of beneficial trade relations that should be encouraged by authorities and stakeholders from both countries.
On his part, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar expressed concern over the low volume of bilateral trade between the countries, highlighting that it stood at $211.2 million in 2023, with Nigeria’s exports accounting for only $12.2 million.
- He called for concerted efforts to balance the trade relationship and urged both countries to work towards achieving the Developing-8 (D-8) group’s goal of boosting intra-bloc trade to $500 billion by 2030.
“The D-8, comprising Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Türkiye, represents a formidable economic bloc.
“Despite the significant potential, bilateral trade between Nigeria and Egypt within this framework remains notably low, with total trade volume at approximately $211.2 million in 2023.
“Given this vast, under-utilized market and the current trade imbalance, Nigeria and Egypt must actively contribute to the D-8 Leaders’ ambitious target of increasing intra-D-8 trade to $500 billion by 2030,” he advised.
- He emphasized Nigeria’s commitment to strengthening diplomatic and economic relations with Egypt.
What to Know
Amid calls for an increase in Nigeria-Egypt trade, both countries rank among the top in foreign remittances received into Africa.
- Africa received over $95 billion in remittances in 2024, with Nigeria, Egypt, and Morocco leading as top recipients, according to the State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2025 by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
- This inflow nearly matched total foreign direct investment (FDI) into the continent for that year, highlighting the growing importance of diaspora contributions to African economies.
- The report also indicated that, aside from 2024, remittances have consistently outpaced FDI, portfolio flows, and official development assistance in recent years—making them one of Africa’s most stable and dependable sources of external finance.
- Nigeria continued to serve as a key remittance hub, driven by its large and engaged diaspora.
Nigeria’s Trade with Africa
Nigeria witnessed a significant shift in its trade dynamics, with Africa emerging as the country’s largest export destination in 2024.
- According to recent trade data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s total exports for 2024 stood at N59.44 trillion, surpassing total imports of N37.59 trillion and resulting in a trade surplus of N21.85 trillion.
- In Q4 2024, Nigeria’s exports to Africa stood at N2,042.06 billion, representing 10.20% of total exports. Of this, goods exported to ECOWAS countries were valued at N1,175.44 billion, accounting for 57.56% of total exports to Africa, according to the NBS.
- Africa was the top destination for Nigerian exports in 2024, with exports amounting to N8.74 trillion.
Further analysis of the NBS data revealed that Nigeria’s main export destinations within Africa were South Africa (N761.95 billion), Ivory Coast (N756.37 billion), Senegal (N236.87 billion), Cameroon (N54.02 billion), and Togo (N47.97 billion), altogether representing 90.95% of Nigeria’s exports to Africa.
According to a 2025 report by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), “In West Africa, Nigeria emerged as the region’s largest intra-African trading country as trade with the rest of Africa expanded to approximately US$18.4 billion in 2024, up from just US$8.1 billion in 2023.”
- Crude oil remained Nigeria’s primary export to African markets during the period, but there was growing momentum for refined product exports following the operational launch of the Dangote Refinery.
The report added that the refinery, Africa’s largest with a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, began supplying petroleum products directly to Cameroon and other neighboring markets.
