The Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Benin, Chad, and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mr Abhay Thakur, and his team visited IITA Headquarters on 21 November. The visit was to launch the Indian book collection and partner with the Institute. The books on art, culture, and history donated by the Indian High Commission (IHC) promote Indian culture and expose users of the Knowledge Center to its literature.

Representing IITA Director General Nteranya Sanginga, the Deputy Director General, Corporate Services, Hilde Koper, introduced the guests to the activities and different hubs of the Institute, including youth programs that deal with the commercialization of agriculture.
Koper said collaborating with IITA will put forward the agricultural system, which can be done through improved technologies and youth engagement in agriculture.
High Commissioner Thakur stated that “partnering with IITA could be a platform to promote agriculture in India and Africa.”

In response, IITA Molecular Geneticist Ranjana Bhattacharjee suggested that India build a partnership with IITA in the seed sector. She also suggested that there should be a pilot project on oil palm production in Nigeria. This could be done on five thousand hectares of land with seedlings from India. This would be established via a bilateral or multilateral agreement, starting with Oyo State and later scaled out to other states in Nigeria and countries in West Africa.
The team visited the Germplasm Health, Virology and Diagnostics Unit, Bioscience Center, Genetic Resource Center (GRC), and Community Resources Center (CRC).
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