He started an official visit to France on September 14, 2015 with discussions on fighting terrorism and tightening economic relations high on the agenda.
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria is in France for a three-day official visit that started yesterday, September 14, 2015 with major focus on further strengthening and consolidating ongoing bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and France in the areas of defense, security, trade and investments, International Business Times reported citing Buhari’s spokesman Femi Adesina.
The visit is said to be on the invitation of French President François Hollande. The hallmark of the visit was said to be the meeting between host President Hollande and his august guest, Muhammadu Buhari at the Elysée Palace last night. The Nigerian President is also expected to confer with the French Minister of Defence, Jean-Yves Le Drian, French Minister of Finance and Public Accounts, Michel Sapin, French Economy and Industry Minister Emmanuel Macron and French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Laurent Fabius. Muhammadu Buhari is also programmed to visit the headquarters of MEDEF, France’s largest federation of investors and employers, where he would participate in a France/Nigeria Investment Forum with leading Nigerian and French entrepreneurs. The visiting Nigerian President is also programmed to confer with the Chief Executive Officer of leading French multinational companies such as Total and Lafarge on their current and future investments in Nigeria. Buhari will also meet with African ambassadors in France and hold an interactive session with members of the country’s Nigerian community before returning to the Nigerian capital, Abuja tomorrow, September 16.
The visit comes within the context of the effective putting in place of the Multinational Joint Task Force whose mission is to crush the Nigerian terrorist sect Boko Haram. This explains the particular attention on defence and security in respective discussions. On the economic domain, France is one of Nigeria's biggest investors, while Nigeria is the main exporter of oil and petroleum products to France. Thus, Nigeria’s new President Buhari is using the visit to maximize economic cooperation opportunities and attract more French investors in line with his vision to revamp the Nigerian economy.
