Nigeria and Brazil have taken significant steps to reinvigorate their longstanding bilateral ties with the commencement of the 2nd Vice Presidential Strategic Dialogue Mechanism (SDM), which kicked off on Monday, June 23, 2025, in Abuja. Hosted by Nigeria’s Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, OON, the high-level meeting marks a renewed era of cooperation between the two influential global South economies, aiming to address shared challenges and unlock new opportunities for mutual development.
Established in 2013 in Brasília, the SDM serves as an institutional platform for structured engagement between Nigeria and Brazil, the two largest economies in Africa and South America. This second session, held over a decade later, reflects a strong commitment by both countries to expand cooperation across critical sectors including trade, investment, agriculture, security, culture, energy, climate change, and health.
In his opening address, Ambassador Tuggar highlighted the enduring diplomatic and historical connections between Nigeria and Brazil, which date back to the post-independence era of the 1960s. He paid tribute to pioneering diplomats such as Ambassador Paulo Tarso Flecha de Lima of Brazil and Nigeria’s Ambassador Patrick Dele Cole, who laid the groundwork for the current robust relationship.
“This event marks another epoch in the bilateral relations of our two countries and our shared commitment to strengthening cooperation and broadening mutual understanding through people-to-people exchange and deeper private sector engagement,” Tuggar remarked.
He noted the growing importance of bilateral projects like the Green Imperative a sustainable agricultural mechanization programme aimed at revolutionizing Nigeria’s agro-industrial sector, developed in partnership with the Brazilian government and private sector players. The project is a key example of how Nigeria-Brazil cooperation is not only strategic but also transformational.
Welcoming Brazil’s Vice President Geraldo Alckmin to Abuja, Ambassador Tuggar praised him as “a man whose place in history is already assured,” drawing parallels between Alckmin and Nigeria’s own Vice President, His Excellency Kashim Shettima. Both leaders share a legacy of public service as former state governors and continue to play pivotal roles in shaping domestic and international policy.
The dialogue is expected to culminate in a joint communiqué that will outline concrete pathways for advancing mutual goals in sustainable development, regional stability, and South-South cooperation. Defense and intelligence collaboration also featured prominently in the discussions, underlining the shared priority of tackling transnational threats such as terrorism, organized crime, and climate-induced instability.
Ambassador Tuggar emphasized the pragmatic nature of Nigeria-Brazil relations, recalling historical counter-trade arrangements and acts of mutual support during economic hardships as testimony to a resilient and forward-looking partnership.
“Another boom period in the Atlantic world is in the offing and Nigeria and Brazil bestride it,” he asserted, signaling the emergence of a new chapter in cross-Atlantic diplomacy anchored in shared values and mutual benefit.
The Abuja session of the SDM signals not only a deepening of diplomatic ties but also a firm intention to enhance trade flows, investment opportunities, and knowledge sharing between two of the most dynamic countries in the Global South.
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