Nigerian and Chinese business leaders have pledged to deepen bilateral trade and investment relations through expanded collaboration in exports, frontier artificial intelligence, healthcare, energy infrastructure, agriculture and industrialisation following the Nigeria-China Investment Summit 2026 held in Lagos.
The summit, organised by the Nigeria-China Investment Club under the theme, ‘Building Strategic Partnerships for Investment, Industrialisation, Job Creation, and Sustainable Economic Growth Between Nigeria and China,’ brought together government-backed Chinese investment organisations and Nigerian private sector stakeholders to explore new investment opportunities.
Speaking at the summit, President of the Nigeria-China Investment Club, Dr Chidi Uleli, said the partnership between the NCIC and the China International Business Development Committee would drive private sector-led investments into critical sectors of the Nigerian economy.
According to Uleli, the Chinese organisation is backed by the Chinese government and has over 40 million members, including more than 200 billionaire entrepreneurs and investors with interests in infrastructure, agriculture, digital payment systems, healthcare, energy and renewable energy.
“They are not marketers, they are not traders, they are not people that just want to come and sell things to Nigerians. They are interested, through the backing of their government, in seeing how private sector-led engagements between the government of China and the people of Nigeria can lead to development in these sectors. Because once these sectors are developed, the country can develop,” Uleli said.
He said the summit was designed to move beyond discussions by creating measurable partnerships and tracking investment commitments.
“One of the things that made us go to this summit is that we want to move from words to action. By the time you are through with this summit today, there are three levels of engagement. There is an engagement with the people, businesses and individuals. There is an engagement with governments. There is an engagement for everybody. Because it is private sector-led, there is not going to be bureaucracy. Once we onboard you, you immediately begin to get benefits in trade and cross-country commerce,” Uleli said.
He added that the summit would facilitate investments in infrastructure, agriculture, digital payments and energy while opening Nigerian businesses to the vast Chinese consumer market.
“If 0.001 per cent of Chinese begin to buy something from one local government alone, their budget will increase more than that of the state. You will hear things about infrastructure, agriculture, digital payments and energy. We are ready to move from words to action,” Uleli said.
During his presentation, Uleli said the collaboration aimed to accelerate Nigeria’s industrial development and improve livelihoods through targeted investments.
“We have followed a mission to develop the economy of Nigeria, to materialise civilisation, to better the living conditions of the local people and improve the economy. We have to pay attention to the most urgent sectors first. We came to Nigeria to let local people have their own industries and businesses so Nigeria will never depend on any other country,” Uleli said.
On her part, Executive Chairman of the China Association for International Economic Cooperation, Sarah Lee, said Nigeria remained one of Africa’s most promising investment destinations and pledged that Chinese investors would support local industrial development across several sectors.
“In our opinion, Nigeria is a very promising country, and we love Nigeria very much. We organised a delegation covering different industries to Nigeria so they can understand the country’s development opportunities. With the CIBDC foundation, we will create opportunities for Nigerian people to establish local industries in agriculture, infrastructure, healthcare, construction, renewable energy, hospitals and education,” Lee said.
She added that the collaboration would combine Chinese technology, machinery and industrial solutions with Nigerian opportunities to establish factories, industrial parks, universities and healthcare facilities.
“We combine Chinese technology, equipment, machinery and solutions to create opportunities for local people to start factories, hospitals, universities and industrial zones. That will increase government revenue, create jobs, raise incomes and give people confidence in their future within three to five years,” Lee said.
Also speaking, Director of Carbonex and partner of the Nigeria-China Investment Club, Solomon Iwu-Ejike, urged deeper collaboration through technology transfer and improved production capacity: “What I expect to continue is technology transfer. The technology which the Chinese already possess and the massive capacity they have to scale production should be brought to Nigeria. We would like them to support our power industry so that we have regular and affordable electricity. We also want better standardisation so that goods ordered from China arrive according to the agreed specifications.”
The summit also featured presentations by the Chairman of the China International Business Development Committee and Director of China 315, Zhang Xiaoheng, alongside discussions on expanding cooperation in frontier artificial intelligence, export promotion, medicine, manufacturing, renewable energy, infrastructure and other sectors aimed at strengthening economic ties between Nigeria and China.
