President Bola Tinubu has extended his ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda to Saudi Arabia and Germany.
On his second trip to the Middle East as President, he attended the Saudi-African Summit convened by the King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, on Friday, November 10, 2023.
Speaking at the summit, Tinubu alluded to the evolving nature of the relationship between the two countries.
He said, “Within the past six decades, our bilateral cooperation, which was initially hajj-centric, has witnessed diversification to cover several areas of common interest.”
The President seized the occasion to highlight two very important messages which he has always stressed in his engagements with foreign governments and businesses: the bold economic reforms—in the areas of petrol subsidy and foreign exchange management—that he wasted no time introducing upon assumption of office, and the fact that, under his watch, Nigeria is fully open for business and investment, and will do everything to protect the sanctity of all domestic and foreign investment, according to the Punch.
These are two of the key planks upon which the lasting social and economic prosperity of Nigeria will be built. The first one will free up significant amounts of resources for investment in infrastructure, social investment and food security, while the second one will attract the capital required to build a globally competitive economy.
Everywhere the President has been, abroad, and even at home, he takes the pains to emphasise and reiterate these two foundational messages, an affirmation of his belief in the fact that as President, he is the Chief Marketing Officer of Nigeria.
At the end of the summit, the leaders agreed to set up working groups in the areas of politics, security and military affairs; economic, trade and investment affairs; cultural and educational affairs; and humanitarian and health affairs. These working groups are expected to commence work within the next six months.
