The Minister of France for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean Noel Barrot, has disclosed that the nation is set to deepen partnerships and collaboration with Nigeria in the area of AI, tech, innovation and seamless solutions to address local challenges.

Fielding questions at the just-concluded CréationAfrica forum in Lagos at the weekend, he said the relationship between Nigeria and France has probably never been as intense, with a lot of visits.

Specifically, he recalled, ‘President Macron came in 2018 here in Nigeria. President Tinubu was in France last year, and since then, since they decided to build a partnership of equals, serving the strategic autonomy of both countries, there has been a huge amount of interaction between administrations, companies, and civil society in France and in Nigeria.”

Saying technology is one area France, Nigeria, Europe and Africa, have in common, he added, ‘we have a common vision of development of the importance of multilateralism, the importance of international law for all topics that spread over borders, over boundaries, over continent, and so we want to work together, both to innovate and create our own tools to build our strategic autonomy, but also to find the right regulation, not a regulation that will inhibit innovation, but a regulation that will prevent that technology is misused and threatens our interests.

“This is the second edition of the forum cast of Africa. What’s this forum? It’s the largest forum dedicated to creative and cultural industries on the African continent. This is the second edition. The first edition took place in France last year, and when President Macron met President Tinubu, who was visiting France last year, he promised that the second edition would take place in Lagos. And this is it. We are there, and we’re seeing very large participation of creative talents coming from all over Africa, 1000 participants coming from 42 countries.

“Eighty of these participant creators are from Nigeria, and I’ve seen a lot of talent and energy in video games, XR, webtoons, cinema, digital design, etc and I’m very proud that we have supported and contributed to this success, because France is at the forefront of creative and cultural industries in Europe, when Nigeria is at the forefront of these industries in Africa.

“And so, there is a lot we can achieve together by bringing the talents, bringing the energies, bringing the creators, entrepreneurs, together in the same place, the same room, like we’re doing today in Lagos.”

He recalled that he hosted eight Nigerian governors in April at the Foreign Affairs Ministry of France and had recently hosted Nigerian musician, Davido, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, when he performed at the end of a day dedicated to African talents that were hosted in Paris.