Buhari To Hold Talks With Hollande And Key French Ministers

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President Muhammadu Buhari will leave Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, for Paris on September 14 to begin a three-day official visit to France at the invitation of President Francois Hollande.

According to a statement from the Nigerian President’s office, President Buhari will be accompanied on the visit by the National Security Adviser, Major-General Babagana Monguno (Rtd.), the Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Ministries of Defence, Finance, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Industry, Trade and Investment as well as the Chief Executives of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council.

As the composition of his entourage indicates, President Buhari’s talks in Paris with President Hollande and other senior French Government officials will focus on the further strengthening and consolidation of ongoing bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and France in the areas of defence, security, trade and investments.

Apart from his scheduled meeting with President Hollande at the Elysee Palace on Monday evening, the President and his team will also confer with the French Minister of Defence, Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Finance and Public Accounts, Mr Michel Sapin, the French Minister of Economy and Industry, Mr Emmanuel Macron and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Mr Laurent Fabius.

President Buhari will 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 President will also confer with the Chief Executive Officers of leading French multinational companies such as Total and Lafarge on their current and future investments in Nigeria.

His other scheduled engagements in Paris include a meeting with African Ambassadors to France and an interactive session with members of the Nigerian community.

The President will conclude his visit to France on Wednesday, September 16 and return to Abuja the same day.