PHOTOS: Macron welcomes Tinubu in first state visit since 2000

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Thursday began a two-day visit to France, with both sides seeking increased economic cooperation and Paris looking to boost ties in English-speaking Africa following a series of setbacks with former allies on the continent.

French President Emmanuel Macron greeted his counterpart at the historic Invalides memorial complex, with the first official state visit by a Nigerian leader in more than two decades.

The two national anthems rang out in the courtyard of one of Paris’s landmarks, kicking off a visit focused on encouraging economic partnerships between France and Africa’s most populous country.

Macron has sought a “renewal” between Paris and Africa since his 2017 election and after military coups and changing attitudes lessened France’s influence on the continent.

The trip is “an opportunity to deepen the already dynamic relationship between France and Nigeria”, Macron’s office said.

The West African country is the continent’s leading oil producer and has a robust film industry, dubbed “Nollywood”.

But challenges posed by insecurity and corruption have left 129 million Nigerians — more than half the country’s population — living below the poverty line.

For Nigeria, which has been battling soaring inflation and food prices, the visit represents an opportunity to tap economic investment.

Nigeria was looking to build ties in “agriculture, security, education, health, youth engagement, innovation and energy transition,” Tinubu’s office said in a statement, adding that the president had landed in Paris on Wednesday evening.

He and Macron will also address “shared values concerning finance, solid minerals, trade and investment, and communication,” it added.

Colonial past

Paris’s pivot towards English-speaking Africa signals Macron’s desire to reverse the country’s declining influence on the continent, with visits to Nigeria in 2018, South Africa in 2021 and Ethiopia in 2019.

France suffered a blow when a series of coups from 2020 hit its former colonies in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.

Banding together, the military rulers who took power then broke off ties with former colonial ruler France and veered towards Russia.

The three Sahel countries are battling jihadist violence that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 and spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.

“France’s leading trading partners in Africa are not French-speaking”, said Togolese economist Kako Nubukpo.

Nigeria was France’s number one trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa in 2023, followed by South Africa, according to the French customs authority.

France still holds significant sway despite competition from China, India, and Turkey, said Alain Antil, a researcher in sub-Saharan Africa at the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI).

This is especially true in English-speaking countries where France “is not held back by its colonial past”, he told AFP.

And with urbanisation — up to 700 million new city dwellers by 2050 — and an emerging middle class, countries throughout Africa are seeking to take advantage of French investment to boost growth.

‘Partnership of equals’

With at least 220 million inhabitants, Nigeria represents a promising market despite the challenges posed by insecurity and corruption.

Since 2009, northern Nigeria has been plagued by various jihadist groups, including Boko Haram and a rival faction, the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWAP) group, as well as armed criminal gangs.

According to a diplomatic source who asked not to be named, the visit “epitomises” France’s strategy in anglophone Africa and added that Nigeria “wants a partnership of equals, not a lecture”, especially on human rights.

Paris hopes to court others on the continent at the 2026 Africa-France Summit, where France sees opportunities in countries like Kenya and Zambia.