Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Yusuf Tuggar, has reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to having closer economic and diplomatic cooperation with China.
Tugger told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in China that tangible progress had been made under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) framework.
Tuggar described FOCAC as not just a forum for discussions but a platform for action.
He spoke on the sidelines of Ministerial Meeting of Coordinators on the Implementation of FOCAC Follow-up Actions in Changsha, Hunan Province.
NAN reports that FOCAC, established in 2000, remains the cornerstone of Sino-African relations, providing a framework for cooperation in trade, security, infrastructure development and people-to-people exchanges.
Year 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of FOCAC, and over the past years, China has supported Africa in building or upgrading nearly 100,000km of roads and over 10,000km of railways.
Also, over the past three years, Chinese enterprises have created more than 1.1 million new jobs in Africa, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.
Tuggar’s remarks come at a time when Africa is increasingly looking to diversify its economy beyond natural resource exports, while positioning itself as a key player in the global technological race.
He said that high-impact projects, such as the Zungeru hydroelectric power plant and the Lagos-Ibadan rail project, had been made possible by Chinese support and investment.
The minister also emphasised Nigeria’s ongoing negotiations with China to expand its zero-tariff access currently covering Least Developed Countries (LDCs) with diplomatic ties with China.
He urged that Nigeria be included in the broader zero-tariff framework for African countries to boost its export of key goods, including agricultural produce and minerals.
“We want to see more domestication of the refining process and also domestication of value addition on the supply and value chain,” he said.
Implementing zero-tariff treatment for 100 per cent tariff lines is one of the 10 partnership actions for China and Africa to jointly advance modernisation.
China has continued to express readiness to support Africa to accelerate its industrialisation and agricultural modernisation.
Tuggar raised concerns about the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence and satellite technologies, saying that Nigeria and the entire Africa should be included in the transformative sectors.
He noted that the global landscape was rapidly changing, saying that it would be essential to not only engage but also to have benefits.
Earlier, in his keynote address, Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, noted 130.32 billion yuan surge in financial support across Africa in the last nine months, and 139.95 billion yuan in insurance coverage for China-Africa cooperation.
According to him, this is in addition to the expansion of trade opportunities for the continent’s LDCs.
He said China was willing to collaborate with Africa to build a more stable and prosperous future.
After the ministerial meeting will be the Fourth China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, from June 12 to June 15, with the theme: “China and Africa: Together toward Modernisation”.
The expo will attract participants from over 50 African countries including Nigeria, and will focus on agriculture, infrastructure development and industrial chain collaboration, among others.
