Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Anh Tuấn held talks with Permanent Secretary of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dunoma Umar Ahmed. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Lê Anh Tuấn paid a working trip to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, from June 29 to 30 to deepen Việt Nam’s ties with West African nations.  

During the trip, Tuấn held talks with Permanent Secretary of the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dunoma Umar Ahmed, sat down with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sola Enikanolaiye and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment Chris Osa Isokpunwu, visited the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) headquarters, and held a working session with President of the ECOWAS Commission Omar Alieu Touray. 

Both sides welcomed the progress made in Việt Nam-Nigeria relations over the nearly five decades since their diplomatic ties began, particularly on the economic front. Nigeria is now Việt Nam's third-largest trade partner in Africa, with two-way trade nearing US$1.1 billion in 2025. 

They acknowledged that the figure still falls short of the potential of two economies with a combined population of around 350 million and numerous complementary strengths. The two sides also discussed global issues of mutual concern and pledged to reinforce coordination and mutual support at multilateral and regional forums, including the United Nations, the African Union, ECOWAS and ASEAN.

Việt Nam attaches importance to cooperation with its African partners, and identifies Nigeria as a priority partner and an important gateway for Vietnamese firms seeking access to the African market, he said.

He expressed hope that the two foreign ministries would play a stronger coordinating role in driving all-around cooperation, making bilateral ties deeper and more substantive, while supporting their development goals.

During talks with Ahmed, the two sides agreed on a range of concrete measures to bolster political trust and create new breakthroughs in economy, trade, investment, agriculture, oil and gas, mining, and national defence-security. These include stepping up high-level exchanges, establishing a political consultation mechanism between the two foreign ministries, creating sector-specific cooperation mechanisms, and negotiating and signing bilateral agreements to provide a framework for future collaboration.

Nigerian officials praised Việt Nam's growing global standing and the success of its economic development model. They noted that Nigeria is rolling out several major national development strategies that will create new opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises seeking to use Nigeria as a gateway to West Africa and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Enikanolaiye and Ahmed also expressed interest in learning from Việt Nam's development experience and encouraged Vietnamese firms to invest in manufacturing, processing industries, mining, pharmaceuticals, apparel, energy, information and telecoms, and infrastructure in Nigeria.

Such investment, they said, would help Nigeria sharpen its industrial capacity, add value to its natural resources and agricultural products, and expand exports to other markets.

Isokpunwu backed Tuấn’s proposal to fast-track the establishment of a Việt Nam-Nigeria Joint Trade Subcommittee to discuss key economic cooperation initiatives, including the possibility of launching bilateral free trade negotiations, improving market access, diversifying imports and exports to expand bilateral trade, and tackling Việt Nam’s trade deficit with Nigeria.

During a working session with Touray, Tuấn said Việt Nam considers West Africa a priority region in its foreign policy of peace, cooperation and development with Africa, and expressed a desire to establish formal relations with the ECOWAS Commission to expand cooperation with the bloc and its member states in agriculture, peacekeeping, post-conflict reconstruction and recovery, digital transformation and telecoms.

Touray welcomed Việt Nam's commitment to fortifying ties with Africa and affirmed ECOWAS' support for closer relations through the negotiation and signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ECOWAS Commission. — VNA/VNS