{"id":53115,"date":"2024-11-30T18:07:13","date_gmt":"2024-11-30T17:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/?p=53115"},"modified":"2024-11-30T18:07:13","modified_gmt":"2024-11-30T17:07:13","slug":"nigeria-is-open-for-business-with-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/nigeria-is-open-for-business-with-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria is \u2018open for business\u2019 with France"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Chad cuts ties with France, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu visits French President Emmanuel Macron <\/strong>to address \u2018shared values concerning finance, solid minerals, trade and investment\u2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On the same day neighbouring Chad announced its decision to cut military ties with France, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu \u2013 on a state visit to Paris \u2013 told French President Emmanuel Macron that his country \u201cis open for business\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tinubu began a two-day visit to France on Thursday, November 28, the first official state visit to Paris by a Nigerian leader in more than two decades.<\/p>\n

Nigeria wants to \u201cbuild ties in agriculture, security, education, health, youth engagement, innovation and energy transition\u201d, Tinubu\u2019s office said in a statement.<\/p>\n

He and Macron will address \u201cshared values concerning finance, solid minerals, trade and investment, and communication\u201d \u2013 and Tinubu wants to tap economic investment.<\/p>\n

He wants to strengthen Nigeria\u2019s position as France\u2019s top trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa. Last year bilateral commerce was worth more than US$5 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cNigeria is open for business,\u201d he said after his meeting with Macron. Nigeria should be regarded as \u201ca serious country and partner\u201d.<\/p>\n

Macron welcomed Tinubu with a warm greeting in Nigerian Pidgin English, emphasising the cultural connection between the two leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cNa big honor for France to welcome you for dis state visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Macron said France will \u201ccontinue to invest\u201d in Nigeria.<\/p>\n

Since coming to power in 2017, Macron has sought a \u201crenewal\u201d between France and Africa.<\/p>\n

But France has suffered a series of setbacks in recent years following military coups in its former colonies, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. The new military rulers in those countries broke relations with France and have tried to forge closer ties with Russia.<\/p>\n

Ba\u2019ana Modu Aji, a political analyst based in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in Nigeria\u2019s northeast, told RNI that strengthening democracy was a key objective of Nigeria\u2019s foreign policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cNigeria is trying to bolster its relationship with the West to maintain its status quo of being the largest and most stable democracy in Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresently, the Sahel and the West Africa are divided into pro-democracy [anti-military government] and anti-democracy [pro-military government]. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are governed by military juntas and they have cut ties with France to gain full independence from their former colony, particularly concerning finance and security.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the largest democracy in Africa, Nigeria has felt threatened as some of its neighbours are still in the era of military rule. However, strengthening bilateral relations between Nigeria and France at this critical time will affect the historic relationship between Nigeria and some its neighbours in the Sahel.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of these countries have already dumped France and are looking at Russia as partner \u2013 particularly in security and socioeconomically.<\/p>\n

\u201cNigeria\u2019s foreign policy is seeking to strengthen and stabilise the country\u2019s democratic system of government by bolstering its ties with Western countries, such as Germany, the United Kingdom [UK], France and the United States [US].<\/p>\n

\u201cTinubu wants to stabilise democracy, especially in the wake of democratic governments being overthrown and military takeovers which has caused further insecurity, political tension and civil unrest in the Sahel and West Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n

CHAD CUTS MILITARY TIES WITH FRANCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just hours after Jean-Noel Barrot, the French foreign minister, met Chad\u2019s President Mahamat Idriss D\u00e9by Itno on Thursday, the country\u2019s foreign minister announced that it was cutting military ties with France.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Facebook, Abderaman Koulamallah said Chad intended to \u201creshape its alliances in line with national priorities\u201d. He said the move would not undermine historical ties with France and it remained \u201can essential partner\u201d.<\/p>\n

Koulamallah said France \u201cmust now consider that Chad has grown up, matured and is a sovereign state that is very jealous of its sovereignty\u201d. It was time for his country to \u201cassert its full sovereignty\u201d.<\/p>\n

Until the announcement, Chad was one of the remaining countries in the Sahel where France maintained a military presence. In the past two years Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso expelled French troops and turned to Russia for partnerships.<\/p>\n

Koulamallah described Chad\u2019s decision to end its defence cooperation agreement with France \u2013 its former colonial ruler \u2013 as \u201ca historial turning point\u201d, adding that it was made after \u201cin-depth analysis\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cChad, in accordance with the provisions of the agreement, undertakes to respect the terms laid down for its termination, including the notice period.\u201d<\/p>\n

France has about 1,000 troops in Chad. The statement did not specify a date for their withdrawal. Apart from the soldiers, France has warplanes stationed in Chad.<\/p>\n

The defence cooperation agreement was last revised on September 5, 2019. Koullamallah said the decision to cut military ties with France followed a thorough review of the agreement.<\/p>\n

Chad expressed gratitude to France for the cooperation extended under the agreement and Koullamallah said it remained open to exploring new forms of partnership.<\/p>\n

Sadiq Abubakar, a security analyst based in the Niger Republic, told RNI that France had been forced to pull out its troops in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso in the past two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Chadian government did not disclose a date for the withdrawal of the French troops. The latest termination of the defence cooperation agreement is a major setback to France in terms of its military presence \u2013 or lack thereof \u2013 in the Sahel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger cut ties with France, they quickly established a grouping known as the Alliance of the Sahel States to protect their respective political, socioeconomic and security interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cChad has a good relationship with the Sahelian countries but it is not clear if it will join the alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is thought that the Chadian government is prepared to kick French troops off their soil because the soldiers have not played a crucial role in combating the insurgency and uprising of armed groups that is bedevilling the country\u2019s territories.<\/p>\n

\u201cRecently Chad lost many of its soldiers, including military officers, in a massive attack by ISWAP [Islamic State West Africa Province] insurgents despite the presence of the French troops.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that their presence is irrelevant because they cannot help in the fight against the insurgency in their host country.\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u00e9by was sworn in as president in May after three years as an interim leader under military rule. He took over from his father, Idriss D\u00e9by Itno, who seized power in a coup in 1990. He was killed by rebels in 2021.<\/p>\n

The elder D\u00e9by relied on French military support to fend off rebel offensives.<\/p>\n

Landlocked Chad borders the Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya and Niger, all of which host paramilitary forces from Russia\u2019s Wagner Group.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Chad cuts ties with France, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu visits French President Emmanuel Macron to address \u2018shared values concerning finance, solid minerals, trade and investment\u2019. On the same day […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":53117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cooperation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53115"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53115"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53118,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53115\/revisions\/53118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}