Nigeria, U.S trade hits $13bn, 2nd largest in Africa — Mills, Envoy

United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, has declared American interest in expanded trade and private sector investments in Nigeria and African countries  to drive economic growth, revealing that Nigeria was United States’ second largest trade partner in the continent with a two-way trade in goods and services that totalled roughly $13 billion in 2024.

Mills, who said this in Lagos during a policy speech and fireside chat at the Lagos Business School, spoke on the theme, “Toward a Robust U.S.-Nigeria Commercial and Investment Partnership,” assuring that the new U.S. administration led by President Donald Trump was refocusing the country’s strategy in Africa.

According to the envoy, the newly launched state department’s new commercial diplomacy strategy for sub-Saharan Africa marked a new chapter in U.S.-African relations.

Mills stated that the strategy was rooted in a goal to expand economic opportunity, deepen commercial engagement, and long-term mutual prosperity, disclosed that Nigeria was already the United States’ second largest trade partner in Africa with a two-way trade in goods and services that totalled roughly $13 billion in 2024.

“In terms of actual investment, the United States remains one of Nigeria’s leading foreign investors, with foreign direct investment reaching $6.5 billion in 2023, which is a 5.5 per cent increase from 2022.

“Nigerians were the largest African diaspora group in the United States with over 750,000 people of Nigerian descent living in Nigeria. These deep-bound bonds of family, educational, business, cultural connections really underscore why Nigeria is important to U.S. objectives and U.S. policy in Africa,” he said.

Mills stated that as U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, he had been given a key priority by mandate to increase trade, investment and business linkages between both countries, adding that to achieve this goal, the U.S. Department of Commerce, working together with Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, signed a Commercial and Investment Partnership (CIP) agreement.

CIP is a five-year memorandum of understanding, which prioritises the Nigerian government three key pillars of agriculture, digital economy, and construction.