INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

WRITTEN EVIDENCE

THE UK’S DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP WITH NIGERIA

Introduction

1. The UK and Nigeria share a long-standing partnership grounded in historical ties, strong diplomatic relations, and deep people-to-people connections. Our mutual economic and strategic interests include regional peace, security, and a shared commitment to Commonwealth values. With a population of approximately 238 million, Nigeria is the largest Commonwealth country after India.

2. The current Nigerian administration has driven bold macro-economic reforms over the last two years. Economic growth has risen from an average of 2% (2015-19) to 4.6%. But it has come at a cost to ordinary people. Inflation was over 30% in 2024 and the cost-of-living crisis pushed more people into poverty.

3. Nigeria faces wide-ranging development challenges at scale - from economic transformation and conflict prevention to climate resilience, health, education, and social protection. Humanitarian needs remain acute, particularly food insecurity and malnutrition, and improved governance is essential for sustainable progress.

4. In response, the UK is resetting its development partnership with Nigeria, anchored in the Nigeria-UK Strategic Partnership[1] signed in November 2024. This includes an agreement for a modern development partnership with an Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded portfolio.

5. This means a focus on strengthening Nigerian institutions and domestically financed development, using ODA alongside concessional and non-ODA funds, all of HMG, the private sector, and unique UK offers such as the City of London.

What key lessons can the UK Government learn from its development engagement with Nigeria in recent years?

6. It is vital for the UK to adapt to Nigeria’s evolving internal context and external pressures. Development outcomes depend on a combination of technical solutions and understanding the interplay of politics, security, and informal networks. Like the UK, Nigeria prioritises growth, security, and self-reliance to combat poverty, but faces tough internal and external challenges.

7. Partnering to identify clear Nigerian priorities and specific UK investments builds strong relationships. This includes aligning behind the once in a generation reforms to the health system, as well as in agriculture and education.

8. Our relationships allow strong engagement and honest dialogue with government and civil society. They enable access to central policy making, including macro-economic reforms and Ministerial accountability that aligns performance with national development goals and improves public service delivery.

9. In Nigeria’s federal system, engaging politically powerful states is crucial. At the state level, UK support strengthened revenue generation, budgeting, transparency, and basic service delivery. The UK pioneered Mutual Accountability partnerships in focus states, jointly identifying reform areas, agreeing contributions, and maintaining strategic dialogue.  For example, this approach in Jigawa State led to a five-fold rise in State revenue from approximately $10 million in 2016 to $42 million in 2023.

10. The UK is evolving its development approach in Nigeria by strategically deploying ODA and non-ODA to maximise impact. This includes reinforcing humanitarian aid with security and stabilisation through the Integrated Security Fund and British Defence Staff West Africa; fostering livelihoods via private sector-led agricultural supply chains; and exploring development programmes to exit protracted crises. Increasingly, ODA is used to build capability across stakeholders to access private investment and finance, enabling DBT to drive the growth mission alongside technical assistance.

11. Demonstrating scalable solutions is essential given Nigeria’s significant needs. The UK worked with a range of local and international partners to develop a climate resilience model for health and education, which was implemented in for 84 clinics and schools. We worked with the Nigerian Government and the World Bank to incentivise the scale-up of this approach to 2,000 primary healthcare clinics.
     

What are the key development challenges facing the country and how can the UK best provide distinct support for a) the Nigerian Government and b) civil society in seeking to tackle them?

12. The North–South divide remains stark in Nigeria: The North experiences higher poverty, lower access to services, and conflict. The South is more economically dynamic but grapples with urban inequality and youth unemployment.

13. Nigeria has one of the worst child mortality rates, the second highest global burden of stunted children and third worst maternal mortality globally. 30 million people nationwide are food insecure; and the Lake Chad Basin carries one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, with humanitarian needs in the North-West rising whilst levels of humanitarian funding are significantly decreasing. Violence across the North of Nigeria causes widespread instability and the displacement of 3.5 million people, fuelling social strain, gender-based violence, crime and protest.

14. Economic growth is seen by the Nigerian Government as a means of alleviating poverty, reducing insecurity and increasing self-reliance. The Government needs support to address systemic vulnerabilities and ensure more effective service delivery, especially at state level.

15. The UK shares expertise in economic transformation, climate mitigation and transition, public sector reform, governance, and regulatory frameworks.

16. Focusing on catalytic local interventions ensures better sustainability and value for money. UK funded experts supported the Central Bank of Nigeria to stabilise the Naira in 2023-24, boosting investor confidence and increasing foreign reserves by $20 billion. HMRC collaborated with Nigeria’s Federal Inland Revenue Service to improve data quality and correct revenue collection errors in 2023-24. This, alongside other fundamental reform measures, has contributed to $24 billion increase in tax revenue in 2024.

17. Our technical assistance improves fiscal transparency, strengthens procurement, and supports Nigeria’s tax reform roadmap. UK expertise in structuring bankable projects and unlocking climate finance supports Nigeria’s energy transition and resilience goals.

18. The UK’s long-standing partnerships with civil society strengthens democratic governance and civic space. We support organisations that monitor public spending, advocate for gender equity, and promote governance across society, especially in regions where state presence is weaker. Civil society coalitions support reforms like the Beneficial Ownership register, electoral integrity and recent legislation granting more local government autonomy. The UK’s Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn programme (PERL) demonstrates progress when support aligns with local incentives and reform coalitions.

What principles should guide UK development engagement with Nigeria as it finalises its “Africa Approach” in the coming months?

19. The Nigeria-UK Strategic Partnership is underpinned by formal agreements: 1) Enhanced Trade and Investment Partnership (ETIP); 2) Security and Defence Partnership (SDP); and 3) annual Migration, Justice and Home Affairs (MJHA) talks, and provides a practical basis to a respectful, mutually beneficial partnership, through:

20. A genuine listening approach: The UK will respond to Nigeria’s own priorities, focusing on areas of mutual interest for its relationship with the UK, adapting to the changing world.

21. Unlocking growth and investment: Use the co-created UK-Nigeria ETIP, the Developing Country Trading Scheme (DCTS) whilst advocating for better access to development finance. The UK will support Nigeria’s economic reforms for transformative, sustainable, and inclusive growth – whilst ensuring vulnerable communities' needs are met.

22. A focus on shared priorities: Adapt development approaches to identify links between complex issues – economic growth; governance enabling the distribution of wealth; security to allow societies to flourish and safeguard the UK’s own borders; and human capital that serves both Nigeria and contributes globally.

23. Locally-led development: Champion sustainable development through technical co-operation, programmes, and partnerships to strengthen Nigerian institutions, and improve accountability. We will back Nigerian-led reform efforts that advance the transition to self-reliance.

24. Tailored technical assistance: Deploy UK technical expertise and capabilities to meet Nigerian demand for more peer-to-peer relationships to enhance Nigerian expertise and best practice.
     

What is the UK doing to help create a fertile environment for equitable investment in Nigeria including through support of corporate and public governance, tackling corruption, and supporting effective economic policies.

25. The UK is helping Nigeria attract fair and inclusive investment by improving cooperation between businesses and government. This includes clear and consistent rules, fighting corruption, and supporting effective economic policies.

26. Future poverty reduction in Nigeria relies on increasing growth underpinned by stronger macro-economic, monetary and fiscal policies, on which the administration under President Tinubu (since 2023) has made major progress.

27. UK programmes support economic transformation including the Nigeria Economic Stability and Transformation (NEST) initiative, facilitating Bank of England support to the Central Bank and its monetary policy, and the Ministry of Finance and its agencies on fiscal reforms. NEST also seeks to simplify business regulations. Support through the Nigeria Public Finance Facility strengthens public financial management and revenue collection, utilising the Department for Business and Trade to identify and address barriers to trade and investment, alongside advancing policy dialogues that open new commercial opportunities in key sectors.

28. The UK strengthens rural markets through the Propcom+ programme. This supports more viable livelihoods for farmers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs, especially women, young people, and marginalised groups, who bear the impacts of the needed, but tough economic reforms.

29. UK technical assistance and operational cooperation with Nigerian law enforcement, including the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission tackles corruption. Cooperation on cross border investigations builds capacities to recover proceeds of crime and regulate financial and professional services sectors.

30. We support the Open Government Partnership (OGP) process, assisting Nigeria to develop National Action Plans that increase civil society engagement. This has contributed to improved transparency and accountability in Nigeria, including the launch of Nigeria’s public registry of beneficial owners.
     

What is the role of development finance institutions, such as BII, in supporting the identified development objectives in Nigeria?

31. Nigeria needs long-term, low-cost finance to attract private investment, in perceived high-risk sectors and geographies. Development finance institutions like BII play a key role in de-risking private finance through a variety of sources, including UKEF, ODA-funded initiatives (FSD Africa and InfraCredit), and International Finance Institutions where the UK is a shareholder.

32. Nigeria is BII’s largest investment market in Africa. BII expanded financial inclusion, through a US $100 million loan to First Bank of Nigeria and a $162.5 million loan package to Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc to increase funding to local micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises. It supported the expansion of access to affordable clean energy through investments such as Lumos, an off-grid solar company offering access to affordable and reliable electricity to homes and small businesses.
     

What opportunities and challenges does the FCDO face as it seeks to support the localisation of development activities in Nigeria?

33. Rising domestic revenue and constitutional reform offers spaces for locally-led development, but unless benefits reach all communities, instability may deepen. The UK has an opportunity to support this by engaging with Nigeria’s diaspora, private sector and wider reform-minded global institutions.

34. UK experts support Nigeria’s health and education reforms through sector-wide strategies, to support system transformation leading to stronger health and education outcomes. In the shift towards self-reliance, examples like the Presidential Initiative on Healthcare Value Chain seek to establish Nigeria as a global hub focusing on domestic healthcare commodities manufacturing with international commercial partners, creating opportunities for close UK collaboration.

35. Recent reforms empower local councils to deliver essential services. The UK helps improve financial management and service delivery, leading to more inclusive decision-making, with budgets that better reflect the needs of women, girls, and people with disabilities.

36. The UK is co-Chair of the International Support Group to the Lake Chad Basin Commission’s (LCBC) “Regional Strategy for Stabilisation, Recovery and Resilience of Boko Haram-Affected Areas”, supporting implementation of the strategy.

37. Significant challenges remain. Many local councils and NGOs lack the staff, training, and systems needed. Corruption and weak oversight exacerbate problems. Security remains a major issue resulting in persistent challenges in protecting civilians and humanitarian workers. 

What opportunities are there for the UK to work with the Nigerian Government to prevent conflict, promote peace and reconciliation in the Sahel?

38. Nigeria is a key stakeholder in West Africa and the Sahel, with a growing ambition to lead on regional security, particularly through engagement with ECOWAS and the Alliance of Sahel States (AES).

39. As outlined in the July 2025 Security and Defence Partnership (SDP) Dialogue, the UK has deepened cooperation on counterterrorism, cyber security and defence with Nigeria, which is anchored in human rights and regional stability. The insecurity in Northern Nigeria demands a coordinated federal and state approach.

40. Our cross-government Integrated Security Fund programme adopts a thematic and cross-border approach. It strengthens peacebuilding through ODA funded non-kinetic solutions, and UN-backed stabilisation and DDR efforts in the Lake Chad Basin. The programme also enhances Nigeria’s military effectiveness through regional and inter-agency collaboration to counter transnational threats. UK interventions seek to reduce violent impact on vulnerable communities by improving Nigeria’s adherence to International Humanitarian Law and human rights standards, to rebuild public trust and accountability.

41. We support Nigeria’s ambition to operationalise their National Counter Terrorism Centre as a regional centre of excellence and strengthen coordination with other regional initiatives such as the Counter Terrorism Academy in Côte d’Ivoire of which the UK is a member. By aligning defence cooperation with development and diplomacy - working from grassroots to regional - the UK helps Nigeria address the root causes of conflict and strengthen its role as a stabilising force in the Sahel.

42. Peacebuilding must however go beyond security. The UK’s convening power, through platforms like Wilton Park, supports dialogue and reconciliation, particularly in areas affected by intercommunal violence, farmer-herder conflicts, and displacement. Civil society, especially women-led organisations, are vital partners. The UK actively encourages the Nigerian Government to create safe pathways to integrate internally displaced people.

43. In a landscape of shrinking ODA resources and debates about UN capabilities, humanitarian needs remain acute. The UK continues to provide lifesaving assistance to the most vulnerable populations in the North-East and North-West of Nigeria to address humanitarian need.

44. Our FCDO Strengthening Peace and Resilience in Nigeria (SPRING) programme works in Nigeria’s North-West region, partnering with Nigerian institutions to reduce conflict and support communities to adapt to climate change. States bordering the Sahel are significantly affected by instability through a complex interplay of climate change, armed banditry, porous borders, and weak governance. Wider issues include cross-border arms flows and the emergence of jihadist groups and organised crime networks. Through SPRING, the UK helps identify and counter these threats whilst improving community resilience.
     

What opportunities are there for the UK to work with civil society, particularly women, to prevent conflict, promote peace and reconciliation in the Sahel?

45. Nigeria plays a crucial role in regional stability, facing spillover from the Sahel and Lake Chad basin, while violent extremist groups continue expanding from the North- East into the North-West. Across our Nigeria portfolio, we have mainstreamed a strong gender, women and girls’ focus which underpins all UK engagement on conflict prevention and reconciliation initiatives.

46. Women are often first responders in crises and play a central role in early warning, grievance resolution and community resilience, yet they remain underrepresented in formal peace processes. UK support helps shift this dynamic by investing in inclusive, locally-led approaches that prioritise durable solutions.

47. Through Wilton Park and the UK-Nigerian Security and Defence Partnership (SDP), the UK facilitates dialogue between civil society, government and regional actors to address conflict drivers. Supporting women’s participation is a key component of sustainable peace.

48. Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) is a critical dimension of inclusive peacebuilding. Support to civil society includes protecting religious freedoms and promoting interfaith dialogue, particularly in regions affected by sectarian tensions.

49. Programmes, such as the Integrated Security Fund (ISF) and SPRING, use ODA and non-ODA to respond to local needs. The UK strengthens civil society’s capacity to engage in early warning and response systems, particularly in areas affected by spillover from insecurity in North Nigeria. This includes support for community-based monitoring, digital reporting tools, and local media partnerships to counter disinformation. We support civil society actors who can identify emerging grievances and mediate tensions.

50. Law and order institutions often mistrusted or absent in conflict-prone areas, benefit from civil society engagement. The UK supports initiatives building trust between communities and security actors, including human rights and gender-sensitive police training.

51. Through the ISF’s Sahel programme, the UK is continuing longstanding engagement with women-led organisation Femmes et Développement to deliver community-led approaches to preventing violent extremism and resolving conflict in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. The project empowers women, training them to safely identify radicalisation and deliver psychosocial services in their communities.  
     

How could UK investment and ODA be best catalysed to support Nigeria’s transition away from fossil fuels and respond to environmental challenges?

52. The UK supports Nigeria’s diversification agenda to reduce oil dependency, offering a range of support for energy transition. Nigeria’s economy, however, is heavily reliant on oil and gas revenue with the transition from fossil fuels often viewed as a trade-off to economic development.  Gas is utilised extensively as a transition fuel.  With one of the largest energy deficits in the world and an estimated 94 million Nigerians without access to electricity, economic development is significantly hampered by lack of energy access.  Environmental degradation, particularly in the Niger Delta, remains a pressing concern.

53. UK development efforts through the UK Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF) programme and BII support renewable energy sector development in Nigeria. ODA and UK investment could support the transition by developing net-zero aligned sub-national energy markets, and smart grid infrastructure, that aid the rapid scale up of renewables.  With careful alignment to the Fossil Fuel Policy, or limited exemptions, UK funding instruments could decrease gas flaring and help commercialise captured gas to displace the extensive use of diesel generators, and reduce deforestation through clean cooking options. Steps are also needed to strengthen Nigeria’s environmental governance and accountability mechanisms to address legacy pollution issues from oil and gas sector and support affected communities.

54. Environmental challenges including flooding, desertification, deforestation and sea-level rise exacerbate land use issues across the country and contribute to food insecurity, conflict, violent extremism and humanitarian needs. UK ODA and investment could be further utilised through our portfolio of environmentally sensitive programmes, including on climate resilient schools and clinics, and humanitarian infrastructure. 

55. UK funding can strengthen the environment for green enterprises and public-private climate action, addressing the significant gap between supply and demand of green finance. Our support helps de-risk investments, develop project pipelines, build capacity across the public and private sectors, coordinate activity across the development community, and provide technical assistance. Diplomatic engagement also addresses barriers to investment – by increasing support for macroeconomic reforms and the regulatory environment which minimises complexity and maximises certainty to those looking to enter the sector.