The purpose of the President’s trip to India , was to participate in the G20 Summit on the invitation of members of the group as a testament of respect President Tinubu and Nigeria command among them.According to American President Joe Biden, who said, “Nigeria’s invitation to the G20 Summit is a recognition of Nigeria’s important global role as Africa’s largest democracy and economy.
The President met with the Heads of State of three nations which have been identified as key partners in his economic development diplomacy drive for local investment and wealth creation.
For the Leader of Africa’s largest economy, a meeting with the Chief Executive Officer of Europe’s largest economy, Germany, presented a unique opportunity to expand ties of prosperity for the people of Nigeria, but with a pragmatic approach toward ensuring the effective execution of agreements struck.
“It is not, for us, only a matter of designing the financial architecture for an expanded economic partnership. It is also about the practicality of aligning the perspectives of your large-scale manufacturers, such as Volkswagen and others, with the reality of the new incentives my government is putting in place for them to come and prosper across multiple value chains and sectors inside of our country,” the President implored.
“Thank you for this important discussion, Mr. President. I can appreciate this opportunity to advance our economic relations. Your market is unique and our companies have history in Nigeria. We acknowledge the business friendly reforms you have put in place. I am happy to inform you of my desire to visit you in Nigeria in October, which will allow us to carry forward these initiatives,” the German leader confided.
Following President Tinubu’s acceptance of the German Chancellor’s request to visit, the President proceeded to sit down with the Leader of Asia’s fourth largest economy, South Korea, during which, South Korean President, Yoon Suk Yeol, commended the President’s regional leadership in upholding democratic tenets and norms.
President Tinubu responded by swiftly steering the discussion toward his economic focus as he immediately advanced proposals for an enhanced South Korean presence in Nigeria’s local manufacturing sector.
“We will leave nothing hanging. We will finalise what we agree to and we will execute. We will work point by point with you to secure rapidly implementable MoUs across sectors of partnership that will involve the active presence of your biggest firms, not just in terms of Nigerian consumption, but in local Nigerian production, from telecommunications to technology, and oil & gas,” the Nigerian leader affirmed.
The South Korean President responded in agreement, noting specifically that Nigeria’s education, technology and energy sectors are of utmost interest to South Korean investors and that he will mobilize his business community to take advantage of new Nigerian incentives for local industry.
During the G-20 sideline meetings, President Tinubu also had substantive, informal exchanges of views with U.S. President Joe R. Biden; European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen; and World Bank President, Ajay Banga, amongst many others.
The essence of Nigeria’s participation in summit, according to the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, was attracting global capital and foreign direct investment to Nigeria which underscored the administration’s commitment to job creation, inclusivity, economic diversification, and to announce to the world that Nigeria is an attractive destination for business with many opportunities across various sectors of the economy.
Mr. Olawale Edun, who doubles as the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, also reassured investors and global business dealers in one of the sideline panel meetings in conjunction with Confederation of Indian Industry that the administration of President Tinubu was working hard to remove all the bottlenecks associated with macro-economic elements such as inflation and exchange rate to smoothen the ease of doing business in the country.
From the summit, about 14 billion US Dollars were pledges made to help reflate the Nigerian economy, which is practically comatose and in need of urgent rejuvenation. A further breakdown of the 14 billion US Dollars sectorial pledge is as follows:
NEW INVESTMENTS:
PETROCHEMICALS- Indorama pledged $8bn worth of investments to expand their petrochemical facilities in Rivers State creating more jobs for Nigerians.
STEELS – Jindal Steels pledged an investment of $3bn in iron ore processing to aid Nigeria’s drive for industrialization.
POWER – Skippersells plans to invest $1.6bn in the power sector by building 2000MW power plants across the country in 4 years.
SECURITY – The Defence Industry Corporation Of Nigeria(DICON) got a $1bn investment pledge that will take its self-sufficiency to 40% by 2027.
DIGITAL ECONOMY – Bharti Enterprise pledged a $700m worth of investments to create jobs in telecom, space communications, real estate, insurance and hospitality.
After a successful Indian Trip President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and President of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi, finalized a historic agreement, which has resulted in the immediate cessation of the visa ban placed on Nigerian travelers.Furthermore, by this historic agreement, both Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are to immediately resume flight schedules into and out of Nigeria, without any further delay.
In recognition of President Tinubu’s economic development diplomacy drive and proposals today presented by President Tinubu to his counterpart, an agreed framework has been established, which will involve several billions of U.S. dollars’ worth of new investments into the Nigerian economy across multiple sectors, including defense, agriculture and others, by the investment arms of the Government of the United Arab Emirates.
The benefits of the President Tinubu’s economic diplomacy to India/ UAE and the germane issues canvassed on both sides, will go a long way to place the country at a great advantage at the local and international level, now and in the foreseeable future especially in attracting massive foreign direct investment.
Danyaro is a Media and Public Relations Expert and can be reached at ahmaddanyaro2017@gmail.com
