Nigeria and the United States pushed their two-way trade to nearly $15 billion in 2025.
That figure now makes Nigeria Washington’s second-largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa.
Keith Heffern, chargé d’affaires of the US Mission in Nigeria, announced the numbers on July 1, 2026.
He spoke at a Freedom 250 Independence Day celebration held at the US Consul General's residence in Lagos.
Business leaders, diplomats and Nigerian officials filled the room to mark 250 years of American independence.
Trade between both countries grew by 14% over 2024, according to Heffern.
“Nigeria is now the United States’ second-largest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.
“These aren’t just numbers. With more than 100 US companies operating in Nigeria, they represent jobs, opportunities, and economic transformation for Americans and Nigerians,” he added.
More than 100 American firms currently run operations inside Nigeria, spanning banking, technology and manufacturing.
Helping those companies succeed in the Nigerian market ranks among his mission’s top priorities, Heffern said.
How The Commercial Partnership Took Shape
The trade growth traces back to a five-year agreement between Washington and Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
Officials call it the US-Nigerian Commercial and Investment Partnership, and it’s now in its second year.
Heffern described it as a private sector-led effort rather than a government-only exercise.
“As a private sector-led initiative, we have nearly 50 US and Nigerian companies uniting business leaders and policymakers to remove barriers to trade and investment,” he said.
Lagos hosted the first ministerial-level meeting under that partnership back in January.
From there, officials narrowed cooperation to three sectors: agriculture, the digital economy and infrastructure.
Agriculture got a fresh lift in April, when the US Department of Agriculture expanded its GSM-102 export credit guarantee programme for Nigeria.
That programme lets Nigerian banks and importers borrow on US government-backed terms when sourcing American farm goods.
Nigerian banks regained eligibility for GSM-102 financing in late 2025, which opened fresh credit lines for grain and other agricultural imports.
Security Ties Support The Business Push
Heffern said commercial growth cannot hold without safety on the ground.
He pointed to a joint operation this year between Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.
Together, the two agencies dismantled a transnational criminal network allegedly tied to drug trafficking and money laundering.
Heffern called that kind of cooperation just as vital as any trade figure.
He also cited a growing American footprint in Lagos itself: a new US Consulate General compound now under construction in Eko Atlantic.
Heffern described it as one of the country’s most significant diplomatic investments anywhere in the world.
Between the trade numbers, the credit guarantees and the security operations, Heffern’s message on Wednesday pointed toward one theme: Nigeria has moved from aid recipient to commercial partner in Washington’s eyes.
Whether that shift delivers more jobs and cheaper credit for ordinary Nigerians, rather than just bigger trade totals for American firms, is the part still left to prove.
