Tinubu Meets US President Joe Biden, Scholz, Yeol, Modi… 

President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, met with United States President Joe Biden and three other major counterparts from Germany, South Korea, and India on economic diplomacy and canvassed practical next steps in bilateral relations among the nations.

The meetings held on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in New Delhi were an opportunity for Tinubu to increase economic diplomatic relations at the bilateral and multilateral levels.

Tinubu, who departed New Delhi for Nigeria with a stopover in Abu Dhabi, also held bilateral talks with United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities, especially as regards pending disagreement between the two countries.The president had audience with World Bank and European Commission presidents, and equally canvassed practical steps to improving bilateral relations with countries.

Hailing the federal government’s move to revive Nigeria’s ailing economy, Biden also applauded efforts by the Economic Community of West African (ECOWAS) resolve the Nigerien crisis.A release by the presidential spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, explained that Tinubu met with the leaders of the four nations, which had 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 number one citizens of Europe’s largest economy, Germany, presented a unique opportunity to expand ties of prosperity for the people of Nigeria, with a pragmatic approach towards ensuring the effective execution of agreements struck.

Apparently intrigued by the specific economic focus of the president’s proposal, German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, responded by acknowledging the mutually-beneficial nature of an escalation in the scale of economic ties with Africa’s largest economy.Scholz told Tinubu, “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.”

Tinubu accepted the German chancellor’s request to visit Nigeria, and proceeded to meet with the leader of Asia’s fourth largest economy, South Korea.South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol commended the Nigerian president’s regional leadership in democratic tenets and norms.Yeol said, “I wish to commend your strong leadership, following the peaceful transfer of power to you from your predecessor, and we see a stable country in West Africa that is growing in stature.”Tinubu responded by swiftly steering the discussion towards his economic focus, as he advanced proposals for an enhanced South Korean presence in Nigeria’s local manufacturing sector.

The South Korean president said Nigeria’s education, technology and energy sectors were of utmost interest to South Korean investors. He promised to mobilise South Korea’s business community to take advantage of the new Nigerian incentives for local industry.Tinubu concluded formal discussions at the G-20 summit with the Asian giant and host nation, India, which had invited Nigeria to the meeting, as he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He told the Indian leader, “There are many lessons our nation can learn from the rapid progress that India has made under your leadership. We see fantastic opportunity between our nations across sectors, such as agricultural development, but specifically, there is more we can do to advance ICT innovation and the emergence of Blue-Chip FinTech growth in Africa. Nigeria has the local players, who can drive it from the front.”

Modi commended the proposal for economic partnership, saying, “Our teams must now stay close in touch to detail our priority areas of up-scaled cooperation with respect to agriculture, defence, industries, capacity building, and even FinTech growth. I see your commitment. We believe there are immense prospects for Nigeria in the UPI (Unified Payments Interface) and we will ensure that we come together and make progress on these fronts very rapidly.”Still on the sidelines of the G-20 summit, Tinubu had substantive informal interactions with Biden; European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen; and World Bank President, Ajay Banga, among many others.