Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in New Delhi, India, representing President Bola Tinubu at the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit.
As Nigeria aims to deepen ties with the bloc, the summit—themed “Building Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”—offers a platform to boost trade, investment, and strategic economic partnerships.
Shettima is leading a high-level Nigerian delegation comprising the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole; Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani; Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal among other senior government officials.
Ahead of the summit, Odumegwu-Ojukwu said Nigeria would use its participation to explore new partnerships and investment opportunities in agriculture, technology, artificial intelligence (AI), trade, the digital economy and other strategic areas.
The minister said Nigeria was particularly interested in drawing from India’s experience in leveraging technology and artificial intelligence to create opportunities for its large youth population.
“India is firm in its expertise in agriculture and, of course, even in the digital economy. In fact, prior to this, we had a session dealing with women in the digital economy and artificial intelligence, and we are leveraging on India’s greatest strength, which is in the engagement of its youth population,” she said.
Also, Oduwole said the Tinubu administration was working to deepen Nigeria’s trade relationship with India, which she said had previously reached about $14 billion.
She disclosed that major investors of Indian origin had indicated interest in meeting the Nigerian delegation, stressing that Nigeria also maintains significant trade relationships with several BRICS countries.
“And so, deepening those relationships will further strengthen the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. India used to buy Nigerian oil quite a lot, so we are looking at how to expand that with everything going on in the world,” Oduwole said.
At the summit, Shettima is expected to join leaders of BRICS member and partner countries, as well as representatives of invited international organisations, for high-level deliberations on inclusive global growth, resilience, innovation and sustainable development.
The Vice President will also hold bilateral engagements focused on advancing Nigeria’s economic and diplomatic interests, particularly in trade, investment, agriculture, technology, industrial development and other areas of mutual benefit.
Nigeria became a BRICS partner country in January 2025 and has since used the platform to strengthen South-South cooperation and broaden its engagement with major emerging economies.
The Nigerian delegation will also participate in the BRICS open session and other activities scheduled on the sidelines of the summit.