KEY POINTS

• Kalu urges EU investors to relocate production to Nigeria rather than exporting raw materials.
• He cites cocoa and lithium as examples where local processing would create jobs and add value.
• The near-shoring model targets youth unemployment and irregular migration to Europe.

Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu put a direct question to a delegation of European parliamentarians Tuesday and framed it as an economic indictment. Nigeria has the raw materials, Europe has the capital and the technology, so why, he asked, are factories still being built abroad while Nigeria ships out commodities and imports back the finished products?

The Kalu near-shoring Nigeria argument, delivered during a courtesy visit by the First Step Forum delegation led by Marc Jost, centres on relocating industrial production closer to where raw materials originate rather than continuing a trade model that exports wealth and imports finished goods. Kalu told the parliamentarians that near-shoring would unlock value, generate jobs at scale, and reduce the economic desperation that drives irregular migration from Nigeria and the rest of Africa to Europe.

Cocoa and lithium as the clearest examples

Kalu reached for two commodities to make the argument concrete. On cocoa, he asked why Nigeria continues to export the raw bean only to pay a premium for imported chocolate, arguing that bringing chocolate factories to Nigeria would create jobs at every step of the production chain.

On lithium, he pointed to Nigeria’s globally competitive reserves and pressed the European visitors on why the country should export the mineral in raw form when it could instead produce electric vehicle batteries domestically and capture the full value of the clean energy transition.

“Why export cocoa only to import finished chocolate? Let the factories come here. That is value addition and that is how jobs are created,” he said.

Migration, religion, and a broader reset

Beyond the economics, Kalu used the meeting to push a broader reframing of Africa-Europe relations, calling for partnerships built on mutual benefit rather than extraction. Furthermore, he highlighted Nigeria’s religious diversity as a governance strength, arguing that interfaith coexistence strengthens rather than complicates decision-making at the national level.

He also commended President Bola Tinubu’s inclusive leadership style, citing interfaith engagements as evidence of a deliberate effort to maintain national religious harmony. The European delegation’s visit forms part of ongoing parliamentary diplomacy efforts to develop collaborative responses to migration, economic development, and sustainable investment across both continents.