President Bola Tinubu will leave Abuja this week for Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to take part in the Saudi-Africa summit and the Arab African summit, both of which are set for November 10 and 11, 2023, respectively.
Tinubu’s attendance at the summits, according to Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, who briefed State House Correspondents on Sunday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, marks new moves to engage Arab nations in order to attract businesses and additional foreign direct investment to Nigeria.
Ngelale said, “President Bola Tinubu will be heading to Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to attend two major summits.
“The first of which is the Saudi-Africa Summit, at which several areas of mutual concern will be addressed with respect to the economic ties between the regions with respect to the issues of counterterrorism, the environment, agriculture, and many other areas of mutual concern.”
Ngelale stated that Tinubu’s participation aims to increase commerce and investment between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the African continent.
“Obviously, President Tinubu is very keen on ensuring that the Federal Republic of Nigeria within the context of the continent is in a position to maximally leverage on opportunities that will be afforded by the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, where we will be having a single trade market of over one billion Africans.
“The expectation according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa is that by the year 2050, our market here on the continent will have surpassed $29 trillion,” Ngelale stated.
