The settlement goals to strengthen collaboration on analysis and innovation, in step with the conclusions of the 2023 EU-Nigeria Strategic Dialogue and the 2024 EU-Nigeria Summit.
The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, and the Federal Republic of Nigeria have formally opened negotiations for a bilateral Science & Technology Cooperation Agreement. The settlement goals to strengthen collaboration on analysis and innovation, in step with the conclusions of the 2023 EU-Nigeria Strategic Dialogue and the 2024 EU-Nigeria Summit. The discussions are designed to create a political framework that enables each events to evaluate previous cooperation, focus on classes realized, and collectively decide future actions, aligned with the precedence areas of bilateral cooperation and the multilateral 10-year African Union (AU)-EU Innovation Agenda (2023-2033).
The negotiations coincide with the second EU-Nigeria Science and Innovation Day, held on 24 February 2026 in Lagos. The occasion brings collectively researchers, entrepreneurs, buyers, and policymakers to have fun the vibrancy of EU-Nigeria cooperation in science, expertise, and innovation.
EU-Nigeria cooperation in analysis and innovation has grown steadily over the previous years, guided by the Joint EU-Nigeria Roadmap developed from the seventh EU-Nigeria Ministerial Meeting in 2020. Key achievements embrace Nigeria’s growing participation within the Horizon Europe framework programme and the Global Health European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership 3 (EDCTP3).
In Horizon Europe, 55 tasks involving Nigerian entities have obtained grants to this point, predominantly within the fields of well being, meals, agriculture, and atmosphere. These tasks contain 65 participations by Nigerian organisations, benefiting from a complete finances of roughly EUR 20 million. Nigeria additionally participates in 12 EDCTP3 tasks, representing roughly EUR 75 million, with 15 Nigeria-based organisations receiving round EUR 9 million.
The European Union at present maintains bilateral Science and Technology Agreements with 20 international locations worldwide, that are designed to advertise analysis and innovation in areas of shared curiosity. Within Africa, the EU already holds such agreements with Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, and Tunisia, and the brand new negotiations with Nigeria are anticipated to additional strengthen continental analysis and innovation collaboration.