The trade relationship between Nigeria and China, Africa’s 4th largest economy and the world’s second-largest, saw significant growth in 2024, pinpointing the need for the two countries to expand their bilateral ties.

In 2024, trade volumes exceeded $20 billion, according to Yu Dunhai, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria. Speaking during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration in Abuja, Yu highlighted Nigeria’s pivotal role in Africa as a major economic power and a crucial partner in the BRICS alliance, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Yu underscored the need to strengthen ties further, emphasizing that the relationship is anchored on mutual benefits. He expressed optimism about the implementation of agreements reached during the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which focuses on trade, development, and infrastructure.

As China’s largest engineering contract recipient in Africa and the continent’s second-largest export market, Nigeria holds a vital position in Beijing’s strategic economic engagements.

Although trade volumes in 2024 saw an 11.5% decline from the record $22.6 billion recorded in 2023, the relationship remains a key part of China’s engagements in Africa. This decline has not diminished the focus on improving trade dynamics and exploring areas of mutual interest. Challenges such as trade imbalances, where China exports predominantly manufactured goods while Nigeria exports raw materials, remain significant.

Yu also emphasized the potential for expanded cooperation, particularly in sectors like technology, industrial development, renewable energy, and agriculture. These areas represent untapped opportunities that could further deepen bilateral ties and help Nigeria diversify its economy away from an over-reliance on oil exports.

The Chinese Consul-General in Lagos, Yan Yuqing, noted that China’s economy grew by 5.0% in 2024. This growth, driven by qualitative advancements and steady quantitative expansion, provided momentum for global economic recovery. She highlighted how this progress reflects positively on China’s international partnerships, including its engagements with Nigeria.

In recent years, China has been instrumental in financing and constructing critical infrastructure projects in Nigeria, ranging from railways and airports to power plants and telecommunications networks.

Yan reflected on the fruitful cooperation between the two nations in various sectors, including infrastructure, trade, investment, and technology. Initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have created pathways for enhancing connectivity and boosting Nigeria’s economic growth. The involvement of Chinese companies in major projects has not only spurred local development but has also strengthened bilateral relations.

The bilateral relationship is not limited to trade and infrastructure. In 2024, the Chinese consulate, alongside the Chinese community in Nigeria, initiated significant social impact projects. One such initiative, “Renewed Hope, Rebirth from the Light,” aimed to assist cataract sufferers, enabling over 300 individuals to regain their sight. Building on this momentum, the “Together Fight Against Hunger” project has been announced for 2025, targeting low-income groups in Nigeria to combat poverty and hunger. These efforts exemplify how the partnership goes beyond economic gains to address social challenges.

During his recent visit to Nigeria, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi highlighted key achievements in bilateral relations, including a new level of political alignment, the establishment of collaborative platforms, and greater heights in international cooperation. This visit reinforced China’s commitment to deepening its partnership with Nigeria and addressing shared challenges through innovative solutions.

The historical depth of Nigeria-China relations has positioned the two nations as strategic allies. While Nigeria benefits from China’s technological expertise and financial resources, China relies on Nigeria’s strategic location and market potential to strengthen its footprint in Africa. Both countries recognize the importance of broadening the scope of their partnership to include renewable energy, digital technology, and sustainable agriculture.

Vice President Kashim Shettima of Nigeria previously noted that the $22.6 billion trade volume recorded in 2023 was a milestone, signifying the strength of the relationship. Despite the decline in 2024, analysts believe that the fundamentals of this partnership remain strong. Initiatives like FOCAC and the BRI have provided platforms for dialogue and implementation of mutually beneficial policies.

I posit and believe that colonialism distorted Africa’s trajectory including the evolution and maturity of Africa’s leadership system. The biggest problem Africa faces is how to select/elect its leaders, and the choices available and used today are largely exogenous to Africa.

Whether you want to believe it or not, Africa will not attain the level of Western democracy of largely free and fair elections in the next 100 years! So, that option no matter how big you print “democracy” across African capitals will remain imperfect and severely defective.

And the Chinese module is not an option as there is no way you can appoint an Oyo indigene to go and run a local government in Kano, as China does today, in its largely one-party system where party leaders are like regional business executives running China Plc!

But go deeper, Africa had a working leadership and management system before the vagaries of colonialism came. I had noted one for the electoral process here. You can look at different African cultures to see samples of those systems.

In ancestral Igbo, the name “Nneka” [mother is supreme] was more than a name. That name encapsulated the fact that a man lives in his father’s land at peace time but during bad times, only the mother’s place can be a place of abode.

Yes, there may not have been prisons, police officers, etc, but in ancestral Africa, the elders council could excommunicate troublesome people out of communities. And when someone is banished, the only option, depending on the nature of the crime, is the mother’s place. So, on that realization, men were forced to name their daughters “Nneka” because when it matters most, only the mother’s root offers real hope. That was a leadership system to keep order.

However, when the Western colonialism came and modulated that ancestral system, everything broke down. You cannot excommunicate bad actors because of property rights. Even on building communities, as recently as 1973, most successful Igbo men donated their wealth to rebuild community schools, markets, clinics, as part of reconstruction after the Biafra war. 

That time, there was no ranking of wealth defined by balance sheets and market caps as the Western World does. Those days, wealth was measured on impacts on people and communities. So, that one has faded and absorbed into the Western norms where dominance is the rule, and not the rise of all.

Then, why waste effort since we cannot go back to ancestral Africa? Sure – but if we cannot do Western Democracy the way they do it, via free and fair elections, it may make sense to flavour it, untangling central power in national capitals to more regional controls.

So, we must solve this equation for a developmental model:

 Western “democracy” + regional control of true federalism = closer to ancestral Africa development model.

Yes, turn a monolithic model into microservices in governance protocol!

Comment on Feed and my response

Comment 1: “When it’s bad, you go to the mother but when it’s good the father takes the praise. The bias is apparent & irrational for a culture that prides itself in its patrilineality.”

My response: you did not process it very well partly because this piece is not about Igbo tradition. Nneka connects to your in-law as your extended family and that means when all kindreds fail, you still have your in-laws as a safe zone. Reciprocally, the son of a daughter is accorded the highest respect as Nwa-ada even above the sons of the soil. Igbo tradition has reverence to women.

During the village weekly palm wine gathering, after the eldest village has taken a kola and wine, the next to be called to be given is the son of the daughters, ahead of everyone. And in communities, Umu Ada (daughters of the community) can rule over men even though they have been married out of the community.

The Nneka is an extension of Igbo’s belief that marriage is not a transaction between a young man and a woman, but a relationship between communities. That is why we name children Nwaoha [a child to a community} because only a community can train a child, not just the parents.

Comment 2:”There is no way you can appoint an Oyo indigene to run a local government in Kano, as China does today.” Hello sir, we did that during the military regimes. The state governors weren’t indigenes.

My Response: For the context of development, that is not relevant as the structure was never for market-driven development. I am not sure any military administrator was in charge of its budget.  Though they were reading speeches on TVs, some were so junior that they were not members of the national governing council which were manned by military chiefs and GOCs. Contrast this with where all governors are members of the Council of State.