Abuja, 11 June 2022 (TDI): Senior diplomats from Nigeria and Switzerland met in Abuja on Friday to discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Gabriel Aduda, the Permanent Secretary of Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the delegation of Nigeria. Meanwhile, Livia Leu, the State Secretary of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs represented Switzerland.
The meeting is a part of the 2022 Nigeria-Switzerland Days.
During the meeting, both sides discussed their longstanding bilateral and multilateral cooperation. According to both sides, the two countries are significant partners of each other.
Also, both leaders spoke highly of the meeting and relevant events.
Before the 2022 Nigeria-Switzerland Days, Gabriel Aduda also had a meeting with Georg Steiner, the Ambassador of Switzerland to Nigeria, and his team on the 2nd of June. Teams from both sides discussed preparations for the upcoming scheduled Bilateral Consultations between them.
The Bilateral Relations
Economic ties are one of the most crucial parts of Nigerian-Switzerland bilateral relations. Nigeria is a major trading partner of Switzerland in Africa. It mainly exports crude oil to Switzerland. Simultaneously, Switzerland mainly exports pharmaceuticals and machinery to Nigeria.
This shows the complementary economic cooperation and the ties that they share.
As the relations between the two countries grew, Switzerland opened a consulate general in Lagos in 2016. Bolstered by such high-level political dialogues and collaboration, the relationship between both sides has remained close in these years.
To improve a more comprehensive relationship with African countries, Switzerland has set out a strategy for sub-Saharan Africa for 2021–24. Specifically, the Swiss-Nigerian cooperation highly focuses on economic ties, migration issues, humanitarian aid, human rights, and peace promotion.
Besides closely promoting economic cooperation, the two countries have maintained a human rights dialogue annually since 2011. To implement concrete projects, Switzerland has been working hard with both official authorities and social organizations in Nigeria.
