Germany's foreign minister Johann Wadephul wrapped up a two-day visit to Nigeria on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, aimed at deepening business and trade ties between the two countries. Wadephul, who spent Tuesday in Lagos, Nigeria's economic capital, called for "strengthening trade and investment" during a meeting with his Nigerian counterpart Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu in Abuja.
Wadephul highlighted the untapped potential of the economic partnership, particularly in information technology and Nigeria's vibrant start-up sector. He noted that bilateral trade between Germany and Nigeria grew by around 10 percent last year.
Accompanying Wadephul was Claudia Roth, a Green party member of the German parliament, who expressed the urgent need for new international partnerships amid global political challenges. Roth told AFP, "in this world I think desperately, we need new partners... against the warlords in politics, against these Trumps and Putins and Xis."
The visit comes as Berlin seeks to expand business opportunities across Africa amid a more isolationist stance from the United States and geopolitical pressures from Russia and China. Europe faces economic challenges from what it describes as unfair Chinese trade practices, while Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine continues into its fifth year. Both China and Russia have established economic and security ties in Africa.
Wadephul also commended Nigeria for its role in combating terrorism, recognizing the country as standing on "the front line in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism," particularly given its ongoing jihadist insurgency in the northeast since 2009.
The German delegation also visited Mauritania earlier in the week, where Roth noted the urgent need for support due to the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighboring Mali, citing the dangerous situation in the Sahel region.
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