As part of efforts to strengthen strategic partnership in trade, energy, finance and investment, French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit Nigeria on October 28 and 29.
The visit is scheduled for the two days, batting any changes, according to presidential sources.
French officials, according to a report by TheCable, have already begun arriving in Nigeria to hold talks with their Nigerian counterparts and finalise arrangements ahead of Macron’s trip.
In November 2024, Macron hosted Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on a three-day state visit, where both leaders held discussions on finance, energy transition, solid minerals, trade and investment, and communication, among other issues.
Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, had said the visit focused on “strengthening political, economic, and cultural relations and establishing more opportunities for partnership.”
The upcoming reciprocal visit is expected to strengthen the agreements reached two years ago in France.
Macron, whose second and final term in office ends in May 2027, has maintained close ties with Tinubu since the latter became president.
Since 2023, President Tinubu has visited France at least nine times for official engagements, working visits and private trips.
The French Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Marc Fonbaustier, first announced Macron’s imminent visit to Nigeria in July when he said Macron’s trip would allow both countries to review their growing strategic partnership.
“Together, our two presidents will assess the progress of our roadmap and outline the key elements of our relationship for the years to come. These will undoubtedly be ambitious and mutually beneficial for our two peoples,” Fonbaustier said.
The envoy added that the “new relationship between Africa and France was, in some way, born in Nigeria or ‘Made in Nigeria’. Because as a young man, Emmanuel Macron spent six significant and formative months in this country while he was a student, 24 years ago.”
Macron last visited Nigeria as French president in July 2018. He met with the late former President Muhammadu Buhari and toured the New Afrika Shrine in Lagos.
