Nigeria has emerged as the third-largest source of investment into Ghana over the past year, Ghana’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Baba Sadiq Abdulai Abu, has said.

Abu disclosed this while speaking with journalists during a diplomatic function in Abuja, where he highlighted the growing economic, cultural and diplomatic ties between the two West African countries.

According to the envoy, the investment relationship between Ghana and Nigeria is one of several areas that demonstrate the depth of the bilateral relationship, with businesses and investors from both countries maintaining significant interests across their respective markets.

“Ghana and Nigeria culturally and socially share a lot in common. Beyond that, on the economic side as well, Nigeria happens to be the third top-sourced country of investment to Ghana in the last one year,” Abu said.

He said Ghanaian investors also continued to invest significantly in Nigeria, stressing the need for both countries to deepen trade and create more opportunities for cross-border investment.

Abu said the Ghanaian diplomatic mission was promoting what he described as the “Ghana-Nigeria philosophy”, with a major focus on trade, investment and stronger economic cooperation.

“Most importantly, we want to emphasise trade, investment and so on and so forth. Nigeria continues to be a very major investor in Ghana, and Ghanaians also continue to be very major investors in Nigeria,” he said.

The High Commissioner said stronger economic ties should complement the longstanding cultural relationship between the two countries, which he described as particularly strong among their citizens.

He cited music, football and social media exchanges, including the popular “Jollof Wars”, as examples of the friendly rivalry and cultural interaction between Nigerians and Ghanaians.

Abu, however, said the relationship extended well beyond football and popular cultural exchanges, pointing to decades of diplomatic cooperation and shared interests.

He traced the historical foundation of the relationship to Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who visited Nigeria in February 1959 and met with prominent Nigerian leaders, including Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe.

According to him, the relationship established during that period had continued to strengthen through economic, diplomatic and regional cooperation.

The envoy also highlighted Nigeria’s support for Ghana on regional and international issues, including Ghana’s efforts before the African Union to address xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

He also cited Nigeria’s support for Ghana on issues relating to health investment and reparations, saying the cooperation demonstrated the importance of the bilateral relationship.

Abu stressed that Ghana and Nigeria also had important roles to play within the Economic Community of West African States, particularly in promoting regional trade, integration and peaceful coexistence.

He said his generation had a responsibility to build on the foundation established by previous leaders by identifying new areas of cooperation between both countries.

“As young people, we need to forge ahead positively. These are the things that we can use as reference points in forging ahead,” he said.

Earlier, Abu and members of his diplomatic team had presented an anniversary cake to the Honourable Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Sola Enikolaiye, at his office in Abuja to commemorate Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.

Abu described the gesture as a symbolic expression of Ghana’s friendship with Nigeria and an effort to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

The engagement also featured a lighter exchange over football, with the High Commissioner presenting a Ghanaian football jersey to the Minister of State.

Asked whether the jersey signalled Ghana’s surrender to Nigeria as a football superpower, Abu responded humorously that the Minister of State had already accepted the jersey.