The German business delegation was introduced on Tuesday at a reception hosted by Germany’s Consul General in Lagos, Daniel Krull, during Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s visit to Nigeria. The event brought together representatives of German companies operating in, or exploring opportunities in, the Nigerian market.
Speaking at the event, Christoph Wolfrum, Director General for EU Policy and Geoeconomics at Germany’s Foreign Ministry, said Nigeria remains a strategic partner with significant prospects for deeper economic engagement.
“We’ve come here with a rather large business delegation here and that is because we believe that Nigeria is a land and a country full of potential for our bilateral economic relationship,” Wolfrum said.
“The country is thriving. There’s a lot of growth. There is a lot of good developments in many areas and there’s already also something on which we can build, for instance in the field of energy.”
He noted that Germany and Nigeria already have a longstanding bilateral energy partnership covering energy supply, renewable energy and climate protection, adding that both countries also have opportunities to strengthen cooperation in information technology.
“We have a lot of sectors where we see a huge potential in the IT sector where a lot of things are going on here in Nigeria… German companies and Nigerian companies have a great field of cooperation,” he said.
Also speaking, Chief Executive Officer of Siemens Sub-Saharan Africa and President of the German-African Business Association, Sabine Dall’Omo, said German companies see increasing opportunities to collaborate with Nigeria, particularly in digitalisation, cybersecurity and power infrastructure.
“We see clearly great collaboration in the field of digitalization and helping Nigeria to network between German companies specifically in the field, for instance, cyber security, but also other digital solutions,” she said.
Dall’Omo said the Presidential Power Initiative signed by the Nigerian and German governments remains a key platform for improving electricity distribution, adding that Siemens is implementing the project alongside Nigerian partners.
“We have decided that it has to be done by Nigerians, particularly partners, which we have signed up with… to support the competence built up here in country. We are strongly working with these partners to improve the availability of skills and technology here in the Nigerian market,” she said.
She also welcomed Nigeria’s removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, describing it as a positive development that could improve investor confidence.
“One of the great achievements and a congratulation to the industry and the financial sector here in Nigeria is the removal of the FATF grey list, which also enables to create higher trust levels into the Nigerian economy,” Dall’Omo said, adding that it could help reduce financing costs over time.
Separately, Dr. Tobias Engelmeier, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of VIDA (Village Data Analytics), said his firm has worked in Nigeria over the past three years to support electricity access through data-driven infrastructure planning.
“So, we have been working in Nigeria for the past three years together on bringing electricity access to more Nigerians quickly and that’s been a very fruitful collaboration, which is also a large part thanks to the very dynamic business environment in Nigeria,” he said.
Engelmeier said his company hopes to deepen its engagement with the Nigerian government while exploring a larger presence in the country.
On the role of artificial intelligence, Engelmeier said AI can improve infrastructure planning by providing better data analysis, predictive models and project monitoring.
“Broadly speaking, infrastructure investment in the past has suffered from a lack of data… With AI, we can bring that up and accelerate the process of building infrastructure and also make the whole process much more sustainable,” he said.
The briefing featured representatives of German companies, who outlined their activities in Nigeria and shared perspectives on opportunities for future collaboration in the country.
Ademide Adebayo
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