World leaders requested to meet Tinubu at Paris summit - Alake

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Dele Alake, Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties, Communication and Strategy, has claimed that at least four world leaders have submitted requests to meet with President Bola Tinubu in France.

The President is currently in Paris, the French capital, where he will join other invited world leaders to participate in the New Global Financial Pact Summit organised by President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking to the media in Paris on the essence of the summit on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, Alake disclosed that France, the United States, and Switzerland, among other countries have indicated their desire to expand economic cooperation with Nigeria.

According to him, this was in line with President Tinubu's efforts to network to attract more significant foreign investment to the country.

“The President wants to network with international finance corporations, institutions, countries that are well-healed that would facilitate or that could facilitate direct foreign investment into Nigeria,” the presidential aid said.

Alake noted that recent bold decisions taken by Tinubu in the area of the economy have stimulated foreign nations and investors who are now keenly interested in the affairs of Nigeria, unlike in the recent past when many international investors were forced to leave the country because of restrictive currency policies.

Tinubu arrived in Paris on Tuesday, June 20, 2023, for the two-day summit in France in what was his first foreign trip as President.

He was received at the airport by Ambassador Kayode Laro and other top government officials from the Nigerian Embassy and French Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the plane touched down at 6:47 pm local time.

Alake, who is part of the Nigerian delegation to the summit, said Tinubu will join other world leaders to sign a New Global Financial Pact that places vulnerable countries on a priority list for support and investment, following the devastating impact of climate change, the energy crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic.