Israel and Nigeria have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation in key economic sectors.

The sectors include security and defence, agriculture and food security, technology and innovation, healthcare, as well as trade expansion.

This is contained in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja by Magnus Eze, special assistant on communication and new media, Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Mr Eze said both countries reaffirmed their commitment during the valedictory visit of the outgoing Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Michael Freeman, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, at the ministry.

Mr Freeman reiterated Israel’s commitment to expanding cooperation with Nigeria in innovation, agriculture, healthcare, security, education, and skills development.

He described Nigeria as an amazing country with warm and welcoming people, saying sustained engagement remained essential to unlocking the full potential of the relationship between the two countries.

According to him, “We are more than willing to work with Nigeria. We know that after the elections, things will be a lot easier. We are committed to defence and security cooperation with Nigeria.”

He disclosed that the estimated current annual trade volume between Israel and Nigeria stood at 200 million dollars, adding that it remained below its potential.

He also expressed optimism that both countries would work towards significantly increasing bilateral trade in the years ahead.

Mrs Odumegwu-Ojukwu commended the ambassador for his successful tour of duty, saying his tenure had further strengthened the relationship between the two countries and laid a solid foundation for his successor.

According to her, “You were in the country at a critical period, rendering diplomatic service that further deepened mutual understanding and will make the job easy for your successor.”

The minister reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to deepening collaboration with Israel in critical areas such as counter-terrorism, intelligence gathering, information sharing, security financing, and capacity building for security personnel.

“The president emphasises security everywhere he goes because you are actually going nowhere without security,” Mrs Odumegwu-Ojukwu said.

She also underscored the need to strengthen partnerships between Nigerian startups and Israeli technology firms in innovation and technology.

According to her, “When Nigerian ingenuity meets Israeli innovation, remarkable achievements become possible.”

“Nigeria also looks forward to leveraging Israeli technology to improve water management and boost agricultural productivity.”

 (NAN)