Shettima represents Tinubu at BRICS summit as Nigeria seeks deeper South-South ties

Nigeria is using this weekend’s BRICS Leaders’ Summit in New Delhi to press for closer economic and diplomatic ties with major emerging economies, more than a year after joining the bloc as a partner country.

Vice-President Kashim Shettima is representing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the 18th BRICS summit, which opens on Saturday at Bharat Mandapam under India’s 2026 chairmanship. The gathering is being held under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.

Nigeria became a BRICS partner country in January 2025. The status does not confer full membership or voting rights, but it allows Abuja to take part in high-level meetings and to pursue co-operation on trade, investment, energy security and reform of global governance. Officials say the platform has already been used to strengthen South-South co-operation and to widen relations with some of the world’s largest emerging economies.

In addition to the plenary and high-level sessions, Mr Shettima is expected to hold a series of bilateral meetings aimed at advancing Nigeria’s economic and diplomatic interests. Priority areas include trade, investment, agriculture, technology, industrial development, manufacturing, artificial intelligence and the digital economy.

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The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, said Nigeria would also look to India’s experience of using technology and artificial intelligence to create opportunities for a large youth population. She is travelling with the vice-president as part of a senior delegation that includes the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole; the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani; and the Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal.

Leaders already in New Delhi include China’s President Xi Jinping, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto. Other senior figures attending include Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the UAE’s Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Brazil is represented at foreign-minister level.

The vice-president’s office said the summit would give Nigeria another channel through which to deepen partnerships in trade and investment, energy, agriculture, solid minerals, technology and innovation, while promoting greater co-operation among countries of the Global South. Mr Shettima is expected to return to Nigeria after the two-day meeting.

By James John

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