Bilateral trade between Nigeria, India up 34% in one year

Bilateral trade between Nigeria and India has gone up by 34 percent between April 2010/March 2011, and April 2011/March 2012, with total trade moving up from $12.9 million to $17. 3 million between the two periods, BusinessDay can confirm.

Only recently, Indian entrepreneurs – textiles and pharmaceutical business persons were in Nigeria to do business with interested Nigerians.

Indian exports to Nigeria increased by 29 percent between the periods April 2010 – March 2011 and April 2011- March 2012, from $2.09 million to $2.70 million, and its imports grew between the same periods by 36 percent from $10.78 million to $14.6 million.

Major items of Indian exports to Nigeria include rice, transport equipment, machinery and instruments, drugs, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, and electronic goods. Its major items of imports from Nigeria are petroleum – crude and products, non-ferrous metals, metalifers ores and metal scraps, wood and wood products, and cashew nuts.

Twenty-two Indian textile companies were in Nigeria weeks back to participate in an Indian Textile Exhibition in Lagos. The companies had on display, their latest range of textile products, ranging from yarn and fibre to suitings, shirtings, dress materials, embroidered fabrics and high fashion fabrics, furnishings, home textiles, scarves and shawls.

According to Mahesh Sachdev, India High Commissioner in Nigeria, “INTEXPO is aimed at forging win-win partnership among the Indian and Nigerian companies for effective forward and backward linkages. The objective is to strengthen trade between the two countries through the exhibition, particularly in the fast growing area of man-made-textiles.”

Indian textiles and clothing industry output is around $80 billion of which about $35 billion is exported, Sachdev said, saying “India is world’s second largest producer of each of cotton, silk, cellulosic fibre and cotton yarn. India also ranks as world’s third largest producer of synthetic fibre and synthetic yarn. Indian Man Made Fibre (MMF) and textiles are exported to more than 148 countries. The Middle East and Gulf Region make up the largest destination for the Indian exports of MMF textiles which accounts for 25 percent of the total exports followed by Asian countries’ 23 percent. The highly sophisticated and quality conscious European Union is the third largest importer and accounts for 22 percent of Indian exports.”

India exported over $138 million worth of textile to Nigeria during the last Indian financial year ending March 31, 2012. Of these, over $80 million were man-made

products. Fabrics are the dominant products in the export basket with a share of 50 percent, followed by made-ups 26 percent, yarn 17 percent, and fibre 7 percent. The main items exported to Nigeria are polyester, filament, and spun fabrics, polyester/viscose fabrics, mad-ups like shawls, scarves and polyester/viscose yarns.

Nigeria imported $1.8 billion worth of textiles and clothing products in 2010 and 2011. Out of this, its import of textiles was $1.4 billion. The share of import of man-made fibre textile by Nigeria in its overall import of textiles was about 52 percent. Leading suppliers of textiles to Nigeria include South Africa, UK, USA, and Vietnam.

Coming on the heels of the 22 textile entrepreneurs visit were 62 Indian pharmaceutical companies who were in Lagos to do business. They displayed India’s latest range of pharmaceutical products including bulk-drugs, formulations, biotech products, herbals, etc., at an Indian Pharmaceutical Exhibition cum Buyer-Seller Meet, which held at the Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos, for two days. Over 700 pharmaceutical buyers attended the expo in Nigeria in March 2011.

India medicines have long been present in Nigeria and India has traditionally been the largest source of medicines to Nigeria, supplying over a third of the market. Indian pharmaceutical products’ popularity is based on “their efficacy and competitive prices.” There are more than 30 India pharmaceutical companies located in Lagos alone and engaged in manufacturing and/or importing Indian products. India exported drugs, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals to Nigeria worth $307.60 million in year ending March 31, 2012, having risen by 37 percent over the previous year.

India is world largest producer of pharmaceuticals by volume. Annual turnover of Indian pharmaceutical industry estimated at over $20 million in domestic prices, which are significantly lower than global prices. With the industry growing at 13 percent annually, the turnover is expected to grow five-fold by 2020. India’s global pharmaceutical export are expected to be around $14 billion in year ending March 31, 2013, up nearly 25 percent over last year. While Indian pharmaceutical industry is famous for genetics, it is also making fast inroads into branded products, especially, biotechnology.

According to Osahon Enabulele, president, Nigeria Medical Association, over 5,000 Nigerian citizens fly out on a monthly basis, seeking medical treatment in India and other countries. Nigeria is thus spending over $500 million annually, with India alone getting about $260 million of this amount. Buoyed by the boom of its medical tourism due ostensibly to Nigerians’ patronage, India’s projection for the year is to realise a whooping sum of between $1 billion and $2 billion from a medical tourism market worth over $20 billion.

SIAKA MOMOH, Industry Editor