Singapore has overtaken China as Nigeria’s top import partner for the first time in at least 16 years, a BusinessDay analysis of the latest foreign trade data shows.
The report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that Nigeria imported goods worth N5.09 trillion from Singapore in the fourth quarter of last year which constituted 36.1 percent of total imports (N14.1 trillion).
“Manufactured goods mainly imported were ‘Tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, motorised, whet’ from Singapore valued at N5,06 trillion followed by ‘Used Vehicles, with diesel or semidiesel engine, of cylinder capacity >2500cc’ also imported from the US and Italy valued at N94.3 billion and N6.69 billion respectively,” the report said.
It said the value of total imports stood at N14.1 trillion in Q4 which represents an increase of 56.0 percent compared with the value recorded in Q3 (N9.04 trillion) and by 163.1 percent compared to the value recorded in Q4 2022 (N5.36 trillion).
“The increase in import was largely due to the import of ‘tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, motorised, whet’ worth N5.06 trillion.”
Experts say Singapore being the country’s top import partner is a one-time thing and that China would return as Nigeria’s top importer due to its reliance on Chinese products.
“Insecurity may have influenced this shift. The country importing military equipment from Singapore might have been more cost-effective for them due to ongoing security challenges,” Adeola Adenikinju, president of Nigerian Economic Society, said.
He said China is likely to reclaim its position as Nigeria’s top importer due to its significant manufacturing output.
“Consumer goods rank highest in terms of raw materials, with many capital goods still originating from China. Therefore, China is expected to return as Nigeria’s primary trading partner for the foreseeable future,” Adenikinju added.
Isreal Odubola, a Lagos-based economist, said the trend is not surprising given that Singapore is another manufacturing giant.
“While we cannot confirm whether Singapore has ‘actually’ overtaken China as Nigeria’s largest import partner, data points for the next two quarters will give a clue,” he added.
BusinessDay reported on Monday that Nigeria’s trade surplus shrank by 99.7 percent last year as imports surged to the highest since the NBS started collating foreign trade data.