French Ambassador to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann (left); French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mrs Catherine Colonna, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila during the meeting of the President and French Minister at the State House, Abuja… yesterday Credit: Philip Ojisua
• Signs 100m Euros Agreement For I-Dice Programme
President Bola Tinubu yesterday expressed gratitude to France for its pledge to return $150 million stolen from Nigeria by former Head of State, the late General Sani Abacha after a prolonged legal procedure.
The President, who spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while receiving in audience the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Catherine Colonna, who delivered the news, declared:
“Thank you for the good news on the return of Abacha loot. We appreciate your effective cooperation concerning the return of Nigeria’s money. It will be judiciously applied in attaining our development objectives.”
President Tinubu, according to a release issued by his Media Adviser, Ajuri Ngelale, lauded the strengthening of bilateral relations between Nigeria and France, noting that this progress followed his visit to Paris after his inauguration.
In addition to the recovery of another tranche of Abacha loot, the President acknowledged the signing of a €100 million agreement between Nigeria and France to support the i-DICE programme – a Federal Government initiative to promote investment in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Creative Arts Industries.
The agreement was signed by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Technology, Dr ‘Bosun Tijani and the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, at an earlier event at Tafawa Balewa House, the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The President, while emphasising the need to reinforce collaboration on both political and economic fronts, welcomed the growing cooperation between the two countries in areas of shared interest, such as climate change, economic integration, education and culture.
On the situation in Niger Republic, President Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, said Nigeria was monitoring the situation in the neighbouring country and exploring diplomatic channels to avoid bloodshed.
“Leadership is about responding to the needs of the people, their cries and their frustrations. Nigeria shares a border with Niger across the expanse of seven Nigerian states, and most of these states are very populated. Therefore, I need to guide ECOWAS carefully and steadily so that we manage our anger carefully.
”We have a colleague and a democratically elected leader, President Bazoum, being used as a human shield. If we are not careful, he and his family can be endangered.
”I am deploying all appropriate back-channel strategies to avoid bloodshed in Niger Republic. We recognise the wishes of our people; they do not want war, but that does not mean we cannot take bold and decisive action,” the President said.
Tinubu said Nigeria would continue to galvanise international partners in the determined pursuit of a peaceful resolution to the situation in Niger Republic.
Earlier in her speech, the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs conveyed the goodwill of President Emmanuel Macron and expressed the readiness of France to expand mutually beneficial collaboration with Nigeria across multiple sectors.
She proceeded to extend a formal invitation to President Bola Tinubu to attend the forthcoming Paris Peace Forum.
Speaking on the Abacha loot, the French Presidential Envoy said the repatriation followed the completion of legal processes.
“It was a long process, but we are glad that it was concluded. Sometimes, justice may be slow, but this is a very good achievement,” she said.
Colonna also commended Tinubu’s leadership in ECOWAS, saying: “We support your efforts at ECOWAS. We are behind you because we believe that constitutional order is a treasure for all countries, and democracy must be a reality.”
Earlier, the Minister met with her Nigerian counterpart, Mr. Yusuf Tuggar, and reaffirmed his country’s commitment to strengthen existing partnership in terms of economy, trade, culture, development and humanitarian issues.
The Minister further said: “I came to meet with the new government and to reaffirm our will to strengthen even more our bilateral cooperation in all areas.
“In the economic sector, we have greatly reinforced our partnership over the last years, but we can and want to go even further. Nigeria, the giant of Africa, the continent’s leading economy, is also France’s first trade partner in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“French foreign direct investments in Nigeria have doubled over the last 10 years and now exceed 10 billion euros. More than 100 French companies are already working here.
“They do not simply sell French products: they invest in Nigeria’s economy, creating jobs (10,000 jobs as we speak), factories, farms and vocational training centers. Our goal for the coming years is to further increase these investments in Nigeria, but also the investments of Nigerian companies in France.
“The French Government also invests directly in Nigeria, through financing from the French Development Agency (AFD, Agence française de développement). Since 2010, we have mobilised close to three billion euros to support the emergence of Nigeria.
“AFD is carrying out projects in 26 out of the 36 States of Nigeria. We are financing infrastructure, rural roads, marketplaces, urban transportation and water supply, but also a large number of SMEs and local start-up incubators. We are also investing more and more in vocational training for the youth.
“Our main priority for the coming years is to support even further cultural and creative industries in Nigeria. They are already recognised worldwide and have a huge potential to be developed.
“We support creators and entrepreneurs in the fields of animation, video games, music, fashion and design, to help them tap into international markets. I signed this morning with the Minister of Finance an investment agreement for an amount of 100 million euros, for the I-Dice programme, through which AFD is going to support Nigerian entrepreneurs in digital and creative industries.
“We provide financing, expertise, but also exposure in France and in our outstanding cultural network in Nigeria, including the French Institute in Abuja and 10 Alliances Françaises.”
The Guardian
