According to the most recent international trade data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s imports from Malta hit a new high of N766.81 billion in the third quarter of 2024.
The PUNCH reported that with 5.23 per cent of Nigeria’s total imports, valued at N14.67 trillion, Malta was the country’s fifth-largest import partner at the time, a significant increase.
Although the NBS report did not name the specific goods imported from Malta, the increase has drawn attention in the wake of previous charges against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited made by Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Industries Limited.
Dangote further fuelled the debate surrounding the import surge from the small Southern European nation by claiming that a blending facility in Malta was harming Nigeria’s potential for oil output.
