President Bola Tinubu’s upcoming four-day visit to St. Lucia, an island in the Caribbean known for its lush rainforests and beautiful beaches, offers more than just an escape from Nigeria’s political heat.
It presents a window to deepen economic and business ties with a region that is home to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Yet, Nigeria appears unprepared to make the most of the opportunities staring it in the face.
St Lucia, with a population (179,285), is almost at par with the smallest of the 20 local government areas in Lagos (Ibeju Lekki- 117,542) and less than 10 percent of the biggest – Alimosho (2 million).
The Caribbean Island however boasted a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.43 billion in 2024, according to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but its GDP per capita is about 15 times that of Nigeria’s.
St Lucia may not immediately register on Nigeria’s diplomatic radar – there are currently no direct flights from Nigeria, or any West African country for that matter, to the Island. There are also no trade corridors and no formal economic agreements between the two countries. But that absence, if anything, signals untapped potential not irrelevance.
More than a stopover
If Tinubu’s visit to St Lucia from June 28 to July 4, with his 120-man strong entourage, is merely an indulgent detour en route to Brazil, it would be a wasted opportunity, according to sources familiar with both countries.
St. Lucia is part of a broader Caribbean region experiencing a quiet economic transformation. Middle-income nations like Barbados, Grenada, and Guyana boast GDP per capita figures higher than U.S. states like Mississippi and Arkansas and over 10 times the average incomes in Nigeria. St Lucia’s GDP per capita of $13,982 in 2024, according to IMF data, is about 15 times that of Nigeria- $877.
St. Lucia’s largest bank, Bank of Saint Lucia, has $1 billion in idle cash to invest.
Gap in the Caribbean
For a continent-sized economy like Nigeria’s, the Caribbean remains conspicuously absent from its foreign policy playbook. Nigeria exports oil globally, but has yet to establish supply agreements with Caribbean countries like St Lucia that rely on expensive imports.
Its world-class health professionals who are already prominent in the U.S. and UK could also help fill the region’s acute shortage of doctors and nurses, particularly in Guyana and smaller island states where Cuban doctors fill the gap despite language barriers.
A structured talent export programme, similar to India’s model, could position Nigeria as a key supplier of professional services in a region starved of qualified personnel.
Show me the money
St. Lucia’s 70MW of power is still diesel-generated. Mobile money is virtually non-existent. These are gaps Nigeria’s fintech entrepreneurs and renewable energy firms could fill. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s most ambitious businesses, from Dangote’s refinery to digital banks, have regional ambitions that the Caribbean could amplify, if only the groundwork is laid.
In Guyana, the world’s fastest-growing economy by GDP, Nigeria is missing in action despite clear synergies in oil exploration. There is no visible bilateral strategy, even though the capital city Georgetown looks and feels like Port Harcourt, and a strong Nigerian presence could be natural and mutually beneficial.
Diplomatic openings
Never mind the absence of an official strategy, informal ties are taking shape between the Caribbean and Nigeria. Nigerian-French billionaire Gilbert Chagoury, reportedly a citizen of St. Lucia, is said to have played a key role in encouraging President Tinubu’s upcoming visit.
The prime minister of Grenada has been seen in Nigerian agbadas. Billionaires are buying Caribbean citizenships.
Cultural proximity, strategic blind spot
The Caribbean is arguably the region most culturally and ethnically similar to West Africa. But while Cuba sends doctors, China builds roads, and the U.S. absorbs talent, Nigeria sends silence. The lack of formal ties is as much an indictment of past inaction as it is a call to the present.
Missed opportunity or new beginning?
President Tinubu’s visit to St. Lucia can either be remembered as a symbolic retreat, or the moment Nigeria began to recalibrate its global diplomacy and economic ambition.
The Caribbean doesn’t just only need tourists. It needs doctors, oil, infrastructure, tech and long-term partners. (BusinessDay)
