​Brazil and Nigeria, a mutually beneficial trade partnership

Holding the highest GDP in their respective continents, Brazil and Nigeria are two
countries that have benefited plenty from their business deals with one another. Interested in
each other’s resources, these two countries have extremely balanced trade relations, with the
Brazilian general consul, Francisco Carlos Liz, stationed in Lagos, Nigeria saying, “Our trade is
completely balanced. We sell $700m to and we buy $700m from Nigeria. In this case,
everybody benefits as there is no huge surplus to either side.” Recently, the trade between
these two has been beneficial for both parties, therefore if this is to continue, it could help
Brazil climb out of the economic hole dug by the pandemic.

These two trade partners have been investing an incredible amount of money on their
trades for a couple years now. In 2019, Brazil exported 475 million USD to Nigeria worth of
food, 29.2 million USD worth of metals, and 28.7 million USD worth of machinery. Whilst
Nigeria exported a whopping 719 million USD to Brazil in mineral products, 127 million USD
in chemical products, and 8.03 million USD in plastics and rubbers. Despite the economically
draining pandemic, the trade between these two nations has only grown, with Liz stating to
the press, “Trade is beneficial to both Nigeria and Brazil. Incredibly, despite the pandemic,
our bilateral trade grew by almost 30 per cent from 2019 till now. We are reaching the level
of 2008 but it is still way below the era of oil export to Brazil.”

No country has been immune to the economic impacts of COVID-19, therefore any
opportunity to repair the economic sector cannot be missed. If the Brazilian-Nigerian trades
continue, it may be a step towards reducing the damage that has been caused in the past 2
years, and transforming the economy into its old self.

Written by: Matias Gonçalves
Edited by: Anna Kissajikian