The President of Singapore, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, is inviting President Bola Tinubu for a trade deal.
According to Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, who disclosed this in a statement, the global business hub hope to strengthen existing bilateral ties with Nigeria and to expand their points of cooperation. Ibrahim said that the letter was presented by his counterpart, Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Burhan Gafoor when he visited Nigerian Mission House in New York.
Of course, the Nigerian envoy was elated and conveyed his gratitude to President Shanmugaratnam while assuring his colleague that Tinubu would visit the Asian nation in shortest time.
The invitation is quite remarkable, and could be revealing something not yet visible to the Nigerian public who go their daily businesses believing that their president isn’t doing enough to get them out of poverty.
For one thing, Singapore is far richer than Nigeria in every conceivable way.
Nigeria’s GDP per capita stands at around $1,224 whereas Singapore’s is roughly $98,000. What this means is that an average person in Singapore is more than 80 times better than someone in Nigeria in terms of individual output and income. Average monthly salary in Nigeria – when measured in dollars – is approximately $220 while monthly salary in Singapore is $4,555.
Despite having no natural resources, Singapore is doing far better than Nigeria with a total GDP of about $604 billion in the 6-million population. But Nigeria is back at the rear with total GDP of only $291 billion to sustain over 230 million people.
Did Singapore do trade deals with Nigeria in the past?
Singapore opened first formal bilateral trade deal with Nigeria in 2012 – 47 years after they became independence in 1965. It was a economic and transport agreement named Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA). In 2013 the two countries held their first economic forum and negotiated tax treaty among other things.
The Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) which is also known as Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) was signed under former President Muhammadu Buhari on November 4, 2016. However, it had remained mere papers all these years until August 22, 2025.
Singapore-Nigeria agreement for the Avoidance of Double Taxation (DTA) was signed on August 2, 2017, to lower cross-border investment barriers.
The Nigerian envoy didn’t not provide information on those areas of cooperation or the exact cards Nigeria would be going to the negotiation table with. But, no matter how it’s viewed, the new Singapore’s interests in Nigeria is good for the Africa’s third largest economy.