Tinubu, 17 Other African Leaders In Germany For G20 Compact With Africa Conference

President Bola Tinubu and 17 other African leaders are expected to attend the G20 Compact with Africa Conference scheduled for Berlin, the German capital on Monday.

Out of the 18 African countries attending the one-day Compact with Africa (CwA) summit, 10 nations, namely Egypt, Ethiopia, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo, and Tunisia are CwA member-countries, while the remaining eight countries, namely, South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Mauritius, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Comoros, and Zambia were invited to the summit as observers.

Tinubu arrived in Berlin on Sunday for the G20 conference

The president’s official plane, the Nigeria Air Force 1, touched down at the Willy Brandt Berlin Brandenburg International Airport, in Berlin about 1.17 am. He was received by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, and Charge D’Affaires of Nigeria’s Embassy in Germany, Ambassador Ingekem Regina Ocheni.

The G20 CwA is hosted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the JW Marriott Hotel in Berlin.

During the conference, Tinubu would join other Heads of State and Government of CwA member countries, bilateral partners, as well as Heads of International Organisations to deliberate on the immediate enhancement of economic and business cooperation with a view to outlining concrete measures to boost investments in critical areas, such as energy, trade, infrastructure, and new technologies, among others.

The G20 CwA Conference would be taking place simultaneously with the Fourth G20 Investment Summit, co-hosted by the German government and German business associations.

Tinubu is expected to continue his drive for foreign direct investment in Nigeria as he leads Nigeria’s delegation to participate in the investment summit.

This visit also affirms Tinubu’s commitment to diplomatic reciprocity, as the invitation to Germany from the German Chancellor is being honoured following the visit of the German Chancellor to Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria, from October 29 to October 30.

Leveraging the opportunity presented by the Fourth G20 Investment Summit, the Nigerian delegation would follow up on productive meetings previously conducted with high-ranking representatives from German business organisations, who were part of the official delegation of the German Chancellor to Nigeria.

The president, on Monday, would also hold bilateral talks with Scholz and top officials of the two countries, including ministers, expected to be in attendance by 11.40am.

Apart from meeting with Tinubu, Scholz would also meet on Monday with Chairperson of the African Union (AU), Mr Assoumani Azali; Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat; Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Mr Abiy Ahmed Ali; President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, Mr Alassane Ouattara; Head of Government of the Kingdom of Morocco, Mr Aziz Akhannouch; President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr Hakainde Hichilema; President of the Republic of Senegal, Mr Macky Sall; and President of the Republic of Togo,  Mr Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé.

In his discussions with Scholz in October, Tinubu had highlighted the imminent need for more German companies to invest in the Nigerian market across multiple sectors of the Nigerian economy, such as transportation, mining, and energy, while noting that Nigeria remains Germany’s second largest trading partner in Africa.

Nigeria and Germany, being the largest economies in Africa and Europe, respectively, recorded an increase in bilateral trade volume from two to three billion Euros between 2021 and 2022.

Deji Elumoye in Berlin

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