Deepening Nigeria-China Ties, CBN Moves To Boost Payments, Investment

BY BUKOLA ARO-LAMBO, Lagos

Trade between Nigeria and China reached $18 billion in the first half of 2026, underscoring the growing economic ties between the two countries and the need for stronger financial arrangements to support cross-border transactions, investment and the movement of funds.

With bilateral trade spanning machinery, telecommunications equipment, construction materials, crude oil, natural gas and agricultural commodities, efficient payment systems and stronger banking relationships have become increasingly important to businesses operating across both markets.

Against this backdrop, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is stepping up efforts to strengthen the financial corridor between the two countries, engaging Chinese financial institutions, regulators, and businesses to address payment challenges, improve banking connectivity, and attract more Asian investment into Nigeria’s financial markets.

For the CBN, strengthening these financial connections has become an important part of its efforts to attract investment, improve cross-border payments and make Nigeria’s financial markets more accessible to international investors.

The apex bank is stepping up engagements with Chinese financial institutions, businesses and regulators to address the practical challenges affecting transactions between the two countries, while exploring ways to strengthen banking relationships and expand investment flows into Nigeria.

At the centre of this effort is a push to build a more efficient Nigeria-China financial corridor that can support growing commercial activities, improve access to financial services and create stronger links between the financial systems of both countries.

The initiative took a significant step on October 21, 2026, when CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso convened a high-level business and financial roundtable in Beijing, bringing together Nigerian and Chinese business leaders to discuss constraints affecting financial transactions and investment flows.

The meeting, themed “Strengthening the Nigeria-China Financial Corridor,” provided a platform for businesses operating in both markets to share their experiences and identify practical solutions to challenges encountered in moving funds and conducting transactions.

Discussions emphasised the need for more efficient cross-border payment arrangements, stronger banking connectivity and a larger Nigerian banking presence in China. These issues are central to the apex bank’s efforts to improve the financial infrastructure that supports trade and investment between the two economies.

For businesses operating across the corridor, the availability of reliable payment channels and banking relationships is important not only for completing transactions but also for expanding commercial activities and facilitating investments.

The CBN said feedback from the engagement would inform its continued discussions with relevant financial institutions and regulatory counterparts on practical areas of cooperation within its mandate.

Governor Cardoso, who emphasised the importance of direct engagement with businesses, said that understanding their experiences would help the apex bank identify the financial and institutional constraints that limit activity between Nigeria and China.

This approach signals a shift towards grounding policy engagement in the practical needs of businesses, with the CBN seeking to understand where existing arrangements fall short and what improvements could encourage greater financial flows.

The Beijing roundtable featured contributions from the CBN Deputy Governor for Economic Policy, Philip Ikeazor, Nigeria’s Ambassador to China, Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), Chairperson of Blue Diamond Group, Festus Mbisiogu, and Chairperson of CIG Motors, Chief Diana Chen.

Their participation brought together perspectives from policymakers, diplomatic representatives, and businesses with experience operating in both markets.

An interactive listening session formed the centrepiece of the meeting, allowing participants to discuss transaction difficulties, opportunities to improve financial connectivity, and the potential benefits of expanding Nigerian banks’ presence in China.

Beyond identifying challenges, the CBN is exploring opportunities to strengthen institutional cooperation between the two countries, particularly in payment systems.

Speaking with journalists at the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, Thailand, Cardoso said the scale of the Chinese economy and the volume of transactions within it made deeper collaboration among financial institutions important.

He said the CBN was interested in strengthening cooperation involving Chinese banks, Nigerian commercial banks and other institutions, particularly in the payments system. “China has a very robust payments system, and we are exploring whether there are lessons we can learn from it,” Cardoso said.

The governor disclosed considerable interest in peer reviews between the People’s Bank of China and the CBN, suggesting that knowledge sharing between the two central banks could help identify useful approaches to improving financial connectivity.

However, he stressed that the engagements must produce practical outcomes rather than remain discussions without implementation. “Our first engagement here was at the leadership level. When we travel to China, the relevant teams will roll up their sleeves and examine the details to determine what makes sense and what does not. We want to avoid a situation in which these engagements become merely a talk shop.”

The emphasis on technical follow-up is significant to the CBN’s broader objective of translating high-level diplomatic and financial discussions into workable arrangements for businesses. By bringing regulators and financial institutions into closer contact, the bank hopes to identify areas where cooperation could make transactions easier and support greater participation in Nigeria’s financial markets.

The proposed expansion of Nigerian banking presence in China also forms part of this strategy. Stronger banking links could improve access to financial services for businesses operating across both countries and support the movement of funds associated with trade and investment.

While improving payment arrangements is a major priority, the CBN is also seeking to use stronger financial relationships to attract more investment from China and other Asian markets into Nigerian financial instruments.

Cardoso noted that despite the considerable liquidity available in China, investment in Nigerian financial instruments had historically remained limited. “Despite the considerable liquidity available in China, there has not been much investment in Nigerian financial instruments over time,” he said.

He added that stronger engagement could provide an opportunity to change the trend and generate greater interest from Asian markets in Nigerian and African financial instruments.

The potential to attract such investment gives the financial corridor initiative a broader significance beyond facilitating commercial payments. It positions stronger institutional relationships as a possible route to connecting Nigerian financial markets with a wider pool of international capital.

For the CBN, the challenge is to ensure that improvements in Nigeria’s economic fundamentals translate into stronger investor participation and deeper financial markets. This objective featured prominently at a second engagement in Beijing on October 22, when the CBN and ICBC Standard Bank co-hosted Nigeria’s Economic and Investment Opportunities Sharing Session.

Held under the theme “Deepening Cooperation for a Shared Future,” the session brought together Chinese financial institutions, development finance institutions, investment funds and companies active in Nigeria.

The programme featured a presentation titled “Nigeria Rising: Reformed, Resilient, Ready to Scale,” which highlighted the country’s reform agenda, macroeconomic progress and investment opportunities.

A panel discussion involving representatives of the CBN, Standard Bank Group, Flutterwave, Huawei’s Central Bank Business Unit and the China-Africa Fund for Industrial Cooperation examined policy continuity, investor confidence, cross-border payments, local-currency settlement and the role of financial innovation in supporting trade and investment.

The event broadened the focus of the previous day’s roundtable, moving from the immediate challenges facing businesses to the wider opportunities available to investors and financial institutions.

Together, the two Beijing engagements linked Nigeria’s economic reforms with the financial arrangements needed to support increased investment and commercial activity.

The CBN’s approach combines business consultations, regulatory engagement, peer learning, and investment promotion to strengthen the connections between Nigeria’s financial system and Asian markets.

Ultimately, the success of the initiative will depend on how effectively these engagements translate into better payment arrangements, stronger banking relationships and increased investment flows.

By placing businesses at the centre of its consultations and engaging Chinese financial institutions on payments and market access, the CBN is seeking to build a financial corridor capable of supporting stronger economic ties between the two countries.

The task ahead is to convert these discussions into concrete improvements that make it easier for businesses to transact, investors to access opportunities and capital to flow into Nigeria’s financial markets.