Nigeria plays an important role for stability and democracy in the wider region and has considerable economic potential. Federal President Steinmeier visited Nigeria in December 2024 with a business delegation. The German-Nigerian Binational Commission, which was founded in 2011 and has working groups in the fields of business, energy, politics, culture and migration, last met in 2021. The return of the first Benin Bronzes to Nigeria by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in December 2022 injected new impetus into cultural relations. In the fight against terrorist threats, the German Government is assisting with the training and equipping of the Nigerian security forces and contributing to transnational stabilisation projects.

Nigeria is Germany’s second-largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. One priority of bilateral economic relations is cooperation in the energy sector. The German-Nigerian energy partnership, which has been in place since 2008, was expanded in 2021 in line with the Federal Government’s National Hydrogen Strategy with the opening of a Hydrogen Office in Abuja.

Priorities of development cooperation with Nigeria are sustainable economic development, vocational training and employment, as well as rural development, the expansion of renewables and healthcare.

The Goethe-Institut Nigeria has been based in Lagos since 1962. Enthusiasm about learning German is considerable. Many Nigerians are interested in Germany, and young people in particular are often eager to study in Germany.