President Bola Tinubu and French President Emmanuel Macron held a private luncheon at the Élysée Palace in Paris on Thursday.
Bayo Onanuga, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, disclosed this in a post on X on Friday.
Onanuga said the meeting reflected the longstanding friendship between Nigeria and France and their shared commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation.
The private dinner between President Bola Tinubu and French President Emmanuel Macron comes as the Nigerian leader rounds off his three-week working vacation in Europe.
Tinubu arrived in Paris on Sunday, September 13, after spending the first part of his leave in London. The presidency had described the trip as a working vacation, with Tinubu expected to return to Nigeria at the end of the three-week period.
The latest private dinner comes almost a year after President Bola Tinubu and Emmanuel Macron held a similar private engagement in Paris. Tinubu travelled to France on September 4, 2025, as part of his annual vacation and met Macron at the Élysée Palace for a private luncheon.
Backstory…
But the dinner also comes against the backdrop of deepening Nigeria-France relations under Tinubu.
The relationship became more strategic after Tinubu’s state visit to France in November 2024, when both countries signed several agreements and declarations covering investment, banking, critical minerals and the creative industries.
France describes Nigeria as an important political and economic partner in Africa and says the relationship has expanded considerably since 2014.
Tinubu has also maintained direct economic engagement with French investors. In May 2026, during another visit to Paris, he met investors from firms including Amundi and Citibank, alongside other international investment groups, to explain his administration’s economic reforms and seek further investment into Nigeria.
The discussions focused on fiscal discipline, policy stability, oil-sector reforms and Nigeria’s ambition to build a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
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