President Bola Tinubu’s proposed official visit to Qatar may have been put off or may not achieved it’s desired result of marketing Nigeria in the Arab country as the Qatari authorities said Nigerian planned Business and Investment Forum during the president’s visit cannot hold.
The Qatari government in a letter to Nigeria’s ministry of foreign affairs on Thursday disclosed that it would not be able to welcome the president and hold the proposed forum on March 2 and 3 due to the lack of a legally binding agreement between Qatar and Nigeria for the promotion of investment.
It also said its ministry of commerce had other commitments on the days Nigeria’s president desired to visit.
The letter written on February 22 and addressed to the Nigeria’s ministry of foreign affairs read: “The Embassy has the honour to inform that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Qatar apologises that it will not be able to hold a Business and Investment Forum as proposed by Nigerian side” because “there is no any agreement signed between the State of Qatar and the Federal Republic of Nigeria on Investment Promotion and Protection.”
Qatar further stressed that its commerce and industry minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim al-Thani “will be carrying out official missions outside the country during the upcoming visit period” which makes him unavailable to meet with the Nigerian side for business and investment purpose.
The country also added that its officials would be too busy because Qatar was hosting its own “web summit” the same time Nigeria’s president planned to visit.
“The State of Qatar will be hosting a web summit during the suggested period and the state’s authorities will be preoccupied with this event,” the letter stated.
This may be a dent on Nigeria/Qatar relationship as the proposed Nigeria’s president visit may now face a dark cloud.
When contacted for comments, the spokesman of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar (Alkasim AbdulKadir) said a response was underway as at the time of filing this report.
Michael Olugbode in Abuja
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