Why Nigerians should pay attention to Finland's election this week

Finland’s general election is set to hold on Sunday, January 28, 2024. There are nine contenders for the president’s seat: Alexander Stubb (National Coalition Party KOK), Pekka Haavisto (Green League, VIHR), Jussi Halla-aho (Finns Party, PS), Jutta Urpilainen, President of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Olli Rehn (Centre Party, KESK), Li Andersson, leader of the Left Alliance (VAS), Sari Essayah, leader of the Christian Democratic Party (SKL), Harry Harkimo (Movement Now, LN), Mika Aaltola, Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, is running as an independent candidate.

With 24 percent and 22 percent of the vote, respectively, Alexander Stubb and Pekka Haavisto led the first round of voting in the Verian Institute’s opinion poll conducted on December 20 –21.

Men and older voters tend to favour the KOK candidate more than the Green candidate; Jutta Urpilainen, the Social Democrat, appears to have hurt the Green candidate’s chances. With 12% of the vote, populist Jussi Halla-aho would finish third, ahead of Olli Rehn (9%), Li Andersson (7%), and others.

According to The Research and Studies Centre on Europe, in the first round of the presidential election in Finland, 9 candidates are running for the supreme office.

If no candidate receives more than half the votes, a second round will be held on 11 February.

Finns can vote by post from 17 to 23 January (17 to 20 January for those living abroad.) After two consecutive terms leading the country, the current head of state, Sauli Niinistö (National Coalition Party, KOK), cannot stand for re-election.

The Presidency of the Republic is the institution in which Finns have the most confidence (84%), according to a recent survey conducted by the Foundation for Municipal Development and published in January 2024.

Nigerians in Finland

According to (Statistics Finland, 2020), after Somalians, Nigerian immigrants were the second-largest group of immigrants from Africa, who were 13,337 as of December 2020. More Nigerians are also looking to move to the country as it is seen as one of the best countries to acquire international tertiary education.

Statistics Finland also reported that In 2017, the largest concentrations of Nigerians exist in Helsinki (962, 0.15%), Espoo (578, 0.21%), Vantaa (399, 0.18%), Tampere (245, 0.11%) and Turku (190, 0.10%). 2,110 of them reside in Uusimaa, where they make up 0.13% of the population.

Are there any exports from Nigeria to Finland?

According to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), Nigeria-Finland export in 2021, Nigeria exported $1.07M to Finland. The main products that Nigeria exported to Finland are Other Oily Seeds ($477k), Rubber ($340k), and Spices ($82.4k). During the last 26 years, the exports of Nigeria to Finland have increased at an annualised rate of 20.8%, from $7.84k in 1995 to $1.07M in 2021.

In 2021, Nigeria did not export any services to Finland.

Finland-Nigeria In 2021, Finland exported $47.9M to Nigeria. The main products that Finland exported to Nigeria were Kaolin Coated Paper ($14.6M), Electric Generating Sets ($6.43M), and Cranes ($5.53M). During the last 26 years, the exports of Finland to Nigeria have increased at an annualised rate of 6.55%, from $9.2M in 1995 to $47.9M in 2021.

In 2019, Finland exported services to Nigeria worth $1.12M, with Other business services ($1.12M) being the largest in terms of value.

Comparison In 2021, Nigeria ranked 126 in the Economic Complexity Index (ECI -1.56), and 52 in total exports ($57.7B). That same year, Finland ranked 13 in the Economic Complexity Index (ECI 1.42), and 43 in total exports ($83.1B).