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Tinubu Departs Paris for Brief Private Visit to London
•Lauds AfDB’s $520m investment in Nigeria’s agro-based industries
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu, who was scheduled to return to Nigeria yesterday, has departed Paris, France for London, the United Kingdom.
The Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communication, and Strategy, Mr. Dele Alake, who disclosed this in a statement issued yesterday, said President Tinubu, who was initially scheduled to be back in Abuja yesterday, would now proceed to London, United Kingdom, for a short private visit.
The president, Alake stated, will be back in the country for the upcoming Eid-el-Kabir festival.
President Tinubu had concluded his official trip to Paris, France, during which he had an outstanding participation in the summit for ‘A New Global Financing Pact’ hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Aside from his participation at the event where he represented Nigeria well, the President also held high-profile sideline meetings with fellow heads of state and government, global business leaders, and chief executives of leading multilateral and development finance institutions from around the world.
The summit afforded the president the opportunity of projecting, on a global stage, his advocacy for widening the fiscal space, economic justice for Africa as the world accelerates the pace of energy transition and the urgency of addressing the pressing issues of poverty and climate change.
Meanwhile, President Tinubu has welcomed an investment of $520 million in Nigeria’s specialised agro-processing zones by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
He also praised the President of the multilateral institution, Dr. Adewunmi Adesina, for further opening up the nation’s economy for investments that provide job opportunities and poverty reduction.
Receiving Adesina after the two-day summit on A New Global Financing Pact in Paris, France, the President, according to Alake, said the agro-industrial project strengthens an area of the country’s competitive advantage as he listed other areas of priority that require Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
The president urged the bank to inject funds into projects that target women and youth empowerment while appreciating the AfDB President for his vision of setting up a Youth Entrepreneurship Bank in Nigeria that will provide credit, skills, and other support for young Nigerians.
He assured Adesina that the federal government would provide all the necessary assistance to ensure the sustenance of the projects, adding that electricity remained a priority area that needed urgent attention.
Earlier in his remarks, the AfDB President thanked Tinubu for the bold initiatives that had repositioned the Nigerian economy in three weeks and stimulated the appetite of investors from different parts of the world; removal of fuel subsidy and harmonisation of exchange rates.
He said: “I commend the President’s foresight, boldness, and determination for macroeconomic policy direction by removing the fuel subsidy. No bird can fly with its wings tied behind. All those steps are signals investors like.’’
Adesina said the bank would support the economic policies of the new administration in Nigeria, which had placed the people first in development targets.
In another meeting, President Tinubu received executives of Airbus/ATR and assured them that the aviation sector would be “streamlined for efficiency,’’, especially in the maintenance of aircraft and training.
Senior Vice President of Airbus/ATR, Public Affairs, Laurent Rahul Domergue, assured the President that the company was prepared to invest in the aviation sector, particularly in supplying planes to Nigeria.
