Iran exported about 3 million U.S. dollars' worth of goods to Nigeria during the first four months of the current Iranian calendar year starting March 21, Financial Tribune daily reported Wednesday.
The figure registered a 69 percent increase compared to the corresponding period last year, said Mahmoud Haji-Yousefipour, an official with the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran.
"The main exported commodities to the African country over the period were chocolate biscuits, syrup, tomato paste, vaseline, polyethylene, auto parts and construction materials," Haji-Yousefipour was quoted as saying.
Last October, Nigerian Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development Abubakar Bawa Bwari expressed interest in strengthening trade relations with Iran, especially in the mining sector in a meeting with the Iranian ambassador to the country.
He said Iran and Nigeria share a lot in common in diversification of their economies because of the global fall in oil prices.
Iran is technologically advanced in coal-fired power generation and mining exploration which Nigeria can benefit from, Bwari noted.