Economic Diplomacy and Nigeria’s Trade Relations with the European Union Post-Brexit

This study provides a professional analysis of Nigeria-European Union (EU) economic diplomacy and the implications of Brexit for Nigeria's trade and development cooperation relationships with Europe. Britain's exit from the EU in January 2020 formally separated Nigeria's bilateral trade relationships with the UK from its multilateral economic partnership with the EU, creating new institutional complexities in the management of development aid, preferential trade access, and diplomatic engagement frameworks. Using a professional documentary analysis and expert interview design, the study reviews the EU-Nigeria Strategic Partnership documents, Economic Partnership Agreement negotiation records, and Nigeria-UK Trade and Investment Partnership documents from 2020 to 2024, supplemented by interviews with 20 economic diplomacy practitioners in Lagos and Abuja. The Economic Diplomacy Theory and the Post-Brexit Trade Adjustment Framework provide the analytical lenses. Findings reveal that Brexit created immediate ambiguities in the administration of development programmes that altered programming priorities affecting Northern Nigerian education and health sector projects. The EU's separate Economic Partnership Agreement with Nigeria remains unratified due to persistent disagreements over industrial tariff schedules. Recommendations include a comprehensive Nigeria-EU trade diplomacy strategy that coordinates both EPA negotiations and the emerging Nigeria-UK trade relationship. Keywords: economic diplomacy, Nigeria-EU relations, Brexit, trade, Economic Partnership Agreement.