Nigeria is France’s first buying and selling companion in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In a latest interplay with the Consul General of France in Lagos, Mr. Laurent Favier, he highlighted that the relationship between France and Nigeria has been scaling-up over the final years. Therefore, it isn’t stunning to see this bilateral relationship deepen in the areas of economic and commercial relations, which is now transferring from intention to execution, pushed by lively diplomatic engagement and private-sector councils: bilateral commerce between the two nations reached $4.7 billion in 2025.
As an instance, he acknowledged that in September 2026, landmark agreements had been pushed ahead in
Paris, witnessed by President Bola Tinubu, and included partnerships to develop the Gateway Deep Sea Port and the related Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone, whereas French manufacturers are scaling up operations in Nigeria’s huge client market. Notable latest commercial integrations embody expansions by retail large Carrefour, the Accor hospitality Group, and Canal+ making main strikes in the leisure trade through its acquisition technique with MultiChoice.
Initiatives like the latest creation of the Franco-Nigerian Agri-Business Club – a platform devoted to selling collaboration between France and Nigeria in the subject of agrofood trade, will allow French agribusiness gamers to spend money on native capability constructing, agricultural mechanization, agro-processing, and the discount of post-harvest losses inside Nigeria and create a platform for growth in the sector.
He acknowledged that established corporations like TotalEnergies, CMA-CGM, SPIE, Schneider Electric, and Danone proceed to take a position extra and develop their operations in Nigeria. Beyond power commerce, over 100 French corporations function instantly on Nigerian soil throughout prescribed drugs, agriculture, insurance coverage, logistics, transport, infrastructure and hospitality, producing greater than 14,000 direct native jobs. With French international direct funding inventory standing at 8.1 billion euros in 2025, our presence is rooted in a long-term dedication to joint economic creation and sustainable progress.
The French Week is geared toward strategically showcasing these achievements whereas increasing the relationship between France and Nigeria.
The President of the Franco-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Guillaume Niarfeix additionally acknowledged that the French Week 2026 will give attention to turning dialogue between French and Nigerian companies into concrete partnerships. The week-long program, rated the largest C-level enterprise networking occasion in Nigeria, will happen in Lagos from 30 October to six November 2026.
Mr. Niarfeix mentioned that French funding was already seen throughout Nigerian cities and sectors. In power, he famous TotalEnergies’ 2024 ultimate funding resolution with NNPC on the Ubeta fuel subject, which is earmarked to feed the Nigeria LNG Train 7 and, extra lately, the IMA venture. In transport and logistics, he pointed to the Omi Eko venture, through which France–by AFD, alongside the European Union and the European Investment Bank help, is ready to carry 75 electrical ferries, 25 upgraded terminals and 15 routes masking 140 kilometers to Lagos’s waterways. He additionally cited the Lekki Deep Sea Port, whose CMA-CGM container terminal agreed to function, and which has a 14-metre draft and capability for two.5 million TEUs a yr.
France’s Attractiveness for Nigerian buyers.
The FNCCI President added that the Chamber had additionally been taking its work past Lagos. He cited its first Executive Paris Leadership Training Program and Business Mission, held earlier this yr, which introduced Nigerian executives into contact with French buyers, establishments and policymakers.
Indeed, with the opening of a French Desk by Access Bank in Paris, the majority of Nigeria’s largest monetary establishments at the moment are current in France (Access Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, and First Bank of Nigeria), the Consul General of France mentioned. In the agrifood and agroindustry sector, two Nigerian corporations at the moment are established: JR Farms in the manufacturing and export of espresso, animal feed, and cassava processing merchandise, and Babafood, in the importexport of agro-industrial merchandise. The Flour Mills of Nigeria Group has expressed its need to develop there. Nigeria was capable of current its pavilion at the International Agriculture Show in 2026, for the second time after the 2024 version. In the power sector, GecX60, and IoT (Internet of Things) tech start-up, arrange its R&D centre in the Orange Group incubator situated in Blagnac. Convexity, a consulting supplier in blockchain and cost options for NGOs, is ready to ascertain its first European workplace in Paris.
Mr. Niarfeix recommended the Federal Government for its persevering with reforms and its efforts to enhance the ease of doing enterprise, which he mentioned gave native and international buyers a firmer basis to take a position. He mentioned French corporations continued to see Nigeria as a strategic companion and not solely a market.
The President thanked the Nigerian Government, the French Embassy, the French Consulate General in Lagos and the economic and commercial Departments (French Treasury and Business France in Nigeria), the sponsors and companions, and the press for his or her long-standing help.
About Team France
The Consulate General of France in Lagos, the Embassy of France in Abuja, along with the varied establishments that make up the Team France, work on daily basis to deepen bilateral cooperation and foster lasting partnerships between our two international locations. These efforts span a variety of sectors, together with commerce, funding, schooling, tradition, innovation and sustainable improvement.
Team France brings collectively a various community of actors, together with Business France and the
Economic Department, which help economic and commercial change; the French Development Agency and its subsidiaries Proparco and Expertise France, which contribute to sustainable improvement initiatives; the French Foreign Trade Advisors; the Franco-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the France-Nigeria Agri-Business Club and the France– Nigeria Business Council, which promote enterprise ties and funding alternatives; Promosalons; 10 Alliance Française round Nigeria; the Institut Français du Nigeria in Abuja; two Lycées Français (Louis Pasteur in Lagos and Marcel Pagnol in Abuja); Campus France, which facilitates entry to greater schooling alternatives in France; and the Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Department, which advances academic, scientific and cultural collaboration. Together, these establishments embody France’s dedication to constructing a dynamic, forwardlooking partnership with Nigeria, grounded in shared ambitions for economic progress, innovation, schooling and cultural change.
About FNCCI
Founded in 1985, the Franco-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry promotes economic, commercial and monetary relations between France and Nigeria. The Chamber is an important bridge between the Franco-Nigerian enterprise communities and serves as a catalyst for the ever-growing relationship between each international locations.
