Nigeria, Sweden Deepen Bilateral Cooperation on Infrastructure and Digital Innovation
Nigeria has strengthened its engagement with the Kingdom of Sweden in a renewed effort to accelerate development across infrastructure, energy and digital technology as both countries explore pathways to convert development priorities into commercially viable investments.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, disclosed this during a meeting with Sweden’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Anna Westerholm, in Abuja.
The engagement focused on aligning Nigeria’s national development agenda with Sweden’s technical expertise and investment capabilities.
Bagudu stated that Nigeria remains committed to creating an enabling environment for private sector-led growth, particularly in infrastructure delivery, energy expansion, water resource management and digital transformation.
He emphasized that Nigeria operates as a constitutional market economy and is actively positioning priority projects to attract both domestic and foreign capital.
According to the Minister, the Federal Government is working to strengthen project preparation frameworks to ensure that development initiatives are structured in a manner that meets global financing standards.
He noted that improving investment readiness is central to mobilizing sustainable funding for large-scale projects.
The engagement forms part of broader efforts to align development planning with the administration’s economic reform agenda, which prioritizes resilient growth, infrastructure modernization and improved productivity across key sectors.
Ambassador Westerholm acknowledged the strategic role of Nigeria’s Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in coordinating fiscal strategy and national development programming.
She stated that Sweden seeks to better understand Nigeria’s medium- and long-term development priorities in order to identify practical areas of cooperation.
She added that Sweden is prepared to provide technical support and capacity-building initiatives tailored to Nigeria’s evolving needs.
The objective, she noted, is to develop structured programmes that enhance project viability, strengthen institutional capacity and translate development concepts into bankable opportunities.
Officials indicated that cooperation could include knowledge transfer, sustainable project design frameworks and investment facilitation mechanisms aligned with international best practices.
The renewed engagement signals Nigeria’s continued drive to diversify funding sources and deepen strategic partnerships aimed at unlocking infrastructure financing and expanding digital economy capacity.
As Nigeria seeks to bridge its infrastructure gap and enhance competitiveness, collaboration with Sweden is expected to contribute to improved project structuring, increased investor confidence and long-term economic resilience.
