Nigeria and Indonesia have signed a letter of agreement and memorandum of understanding to establish local defence equipment manufacturing, with an Indonesian state-owned defence firm, PT Pindad, set to be represented in Nigeria. The agreement was signed on Friday at the 41st Trade Expo Indonesia in Jakarta by a Nigerian delegation led by Uchenna Okonkwo, Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
The partnership aims to address equipment shortages in Nigeria's armed forces through joint production with the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria. Okonkwo said the arrangement would extend beyond manufacturing to include training Nigerian personnel to operate the equipment. PT Pindad manufactures defence tools, artilleries, intelligence equipment, ammunition and vehicles.
The two countries are also working to increase their annual trade volume to at least $6 billion, according to Okonkwo. During discussions with Indonesian government officials and private-sector stakeholders at a business forum organised by the Indonesian Embassy in Abuja, both sides identified improved cooperation, transparency and access to market information as key to achieving this target.
To address difficulties Indonesian stakeholders face in accessing funds and processing payments in Nigeria, Okonkwo called for a digital payment gateway linking businesses in both countries. He suggested the system could be developed with support from the Central Bank of Nigeria and commercial banks, potentially using fintech platforms as models.