Israel and Nigeria now do business annually to the tune of some $1 billion, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said ahead of a meeting between Olmert and Nigerian Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, who is in Israel to raise interest among Israeli investors for projects in his country.

At a meeting with potential investors in Tel Aviv, Jonathan said that Nigeria had enormous potential for investors to exploit. Besides being one of the world's largest producers of crude oil, Nigeria offers opportunities in power generation, mining, agriculture and manufacturing, he said. In addition, “we are restructuring the oil and power industry for private-sector participation”, he said. Jonathan assured the businessmen that the government’s concern for the rule of law would ensure that their investments were protected.

Nigeria has the largest Muslim population in Africa, half of which is Muslim.