French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to undertake a state visit to Nigeria on October 28 and 29, according to sources within the presidency.
The upcoming trip serves as a reciprocal visit following President Bola Tinubu’s three-day state visit to Paris in November 2024, during which both leaders engaged in bilateral talks covering trade and investment, solid minerals, energy transition, finance, and communications.
Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga noted that the 2024 visit aimed to strengthen political, economic, and cultural ties while fostering new collaborative opportunities.
The October state visit is expected to consolidate and advance the agreements reached during those previous negotiations.
According TheCable, officials from the French presidency have begun arriving in Nigeria to “hold discussions with their counterparts here to put finishing touches” ahead of Macron’s visit.
French President Emmanuel Macron, whose second and final term concludes in May 2027, has maintained a close relationship with President Bola Tinubu since the Nigerian leader assumed office.
Since taking office in 2023, President Tinubu has made at least nine trips to France for a combination of official state functions, bilateral working sessions, and private visits.
Backstory…
President Macron’s upcoming visit to Nigeria was initially disclosed in July by Marc Fonbaustier, the French Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS.
The envoy noted that the state visit will provide an opportunity for both nations to review and evaluate their expanding 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”.
President Emmanuel Macron’s last official visit to Nigeria occurred in July 2018. During the trip, he held bilateral talks with then-President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja before traveling to Lagos, where he toured the New Afrika Shrine.
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