In order to strengthen Nigeria’s economic relations and draw foreign direct investments to the nation, President Bola Tinubu will leave Abuja on Sunday for New York, USA, to attend the 78th United Nations General Assembly.
When he addressed State House Correspondents on the President’s schedule of events before to the future UNGA, which would take place September 18–26, 2023, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, disclosed this on Friday.
The media assistant announced, “On Sunday, His Excellency President Bola Tinubu would depart Abuja for New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly of 2023.”
According to information on the UN Foundation website, at the meeting, world leaders will discuss and debate solutions to “confront the global polycrisis and discover strategies to accelerate action on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
“Tinubu is going to continue moving very aggressively on his economic development, diplomatic drive, to get foreign direct investment into the country,” Ngelale said, highlighting the President’s trip to New Delhi for the G-20 meeting and the ensuing investments brought into Nigeria.
He said that the President will debate digital transformation, innovation, and investment in Nigeria at roundtable discussions with eminent CEOs of multinational corporations. Leaders from Microsoft, Meta, General Electric, and Exxon Mobil are among them.
According to Ngelale, Tinubu will meet with Microsoft President Brad Smith to discuss “how we can deepen digital transformation in the country and how we can expand the digital economic footprint in the country to ensure that our micro and small enterprises will have access to the internet and have access to other smart technologies that will facilitate their ability to transact business quickly and efficiently.”
The talk with Sir Nick Clegg, President of Global Affairs at Meta Technologies, “is expected to be wide-ranging with respect to how we might use emerging advancements like artificial intelligence and certain other applications to impact the way we do business in Nigeria.”
He will also get to know Larry Culp Jr., the CEO of General Electric. The Presidential aide noted GE’s holdings in a number of industries, including energy, aviation, and automobiles, among others, and added, “We expect it to be a very key engagement.”
“We see this as a major opportunity to once again lay out in detail what Nigeria has to offer concerning the implementation of the petroleum industry Act and the fiscal and tax incentives that President Bola Tinubu is putting forward to advance investment in the oil and gas sector, not just in terms of oil, but more so in terms of gas,” the Presidential aide said in reference to Tinubu’s meeting with Exxon Mobil Chief Darren Woods.
Additionally, he pointed out that the UNGA will give the President a platform to advance the causes of Nigeria’s small and medium-sized businesses.
Ngelale asserts that the strategic positioning of the Nigeria Small and Medium size Business Summit will ensure “that we don’t simply look at the huge industry, that we key in on opportunities being given by Nigerian-owned small and medium size firms.”
President Tinubu will also tackle other important global concerns, like as climate change and the reform of the global banking system, in addition to the economy.
The Presidential aide emphasized that in these forums, he plans to outline a more equitable global financial system and go into further detail about Nigeria’s plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2060.
He mentioned that Tinubu would take part in a number of conferences, such as those on the SDGs and climate ambition.
Additionally, bilateral encounters with foreign leaders will emphasize economic development diplomacy even more.
These engagements, according to the Ngelale, include side-by-side meetings with the president of the United States, Joe Biden, the chairman of the African Union from the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, the presidents of South Africa and Brazil, Cyril Ramaphosa and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the prime ministers of Aljeria and Abdelmadjid Tebboune, the European Union Commission’s Ursula von
