Investment: Tinubu eyes Arab nations, attends two summits

President Bola Tinubu has announced plans to attend two major summits in the Arab world in an effort to attract businesses and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Nigeria.

Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, who briefed newsmen at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the President will travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this week, for the Saudi-Africa summit and the Arab African summit.

Both events will take place November 10 and 11, 2023. Ngelale explained that in Saudi Arabia, Tinubu would engage on sundry issues including economic ties, counter terrorism, environment, and agriculture.

He said other areas of discussion will seek to accelerate the level of trade and investment between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the African continent.

“Obviously, President Tinubu is very keen at ensuring the Federal Republic of Nigeria, within the context of the continent, is in a position to maximally leverage opportunities that will be afforded by 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 2050, our market here on the continent would have surpassed $29 trillion,” the spokesman said.

At the Arab African summit on November 11, Ngelale said the President, in his capacity also as Chairman of the Authority of Heads of Government for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will ensure he is at the frontline of advocacy for deepening partnership between the League of Arab nations and the African Union.

The focus will include integration, infrastructure, facilitation and establishment of a new high-speed train network that would link Arab nations from the Middle East and Northern Africa to the rest of the African continent.