Amid
the mixed reactions and criticisms which has trailed President Buhari
especially in his non-stop trips abroad even when the economy is
crippling, his special adviser on media, has outlines 7 takeaways from
his recent visit to Egypt.
President
Buhari with President of Sudan, H.E. Omar Al-Bashir and Prime Minister
of Ethiopia, H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn at the Presidential Roundtable of
Business for Africa, Egypt
In the difficult moments of our history, looking precisely at the
period of Nigeria’s war of unity 1966-1971, Egypt proved to be a
strategic partner, from helping to train our military to supporting with
equipment and aircraft maintenance.
In the course of his bilateral meeting with the Egyptian leader,
Abdul Fattah El-Sisi, President Muahmmadu Buhari recalled that in the
course of his service in the army, he too received military training in
Egypt.
The 24-hour visit to to the Red Sea resort of Sharm Al-Shaikh was not just a ‘trip to Egypt’ as
it has been wrongly portrayed, as if it were primarily bilateral in
nature or a ritual courtesy call on President El-Sisi. The purpose was
to promote investments and job creation in Nigeria and throughout West,
Central and East Africa, alongside other African leaders.
The Sharm el-Sheikh ‘Africa 2016’ conference aimed at
tearing down trade barriers between North and sub-Saharan Africa – a
partnership anchored by the continent’s biggest and third-biggest
economies (i.e., Nigeria and Egypt) by the injection of life into a
26-nation free-trade pact signed by half the number of countries on the
continent a year ago.
The organisers brought together more than 1200 delegates to Sharm
el-Sheikh, included among these eight presidents and prime ministers,
ministers of trade and investment, representatives of global financial
institutions, businessmen and investment executives.
It is expected that this new pan-African initiative will directly
benefit Nigeria in its efforts to expand and diversify jobs and exports
beyond the oil industry – a core component of President Buhari’s
economic vision for the country. Knocking down trade barriers within
Africa will create new markets for Nigerian farmers, manufacturers and
other businesses.
In his opening remarks, Egypt’s President El-Sisi said that the forum aimed at “pushing forward trade and investment in our continent to strengthen Africa’s place in the world economy.”
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari who touted an extensive economic agenda mentioned this as not being without challenges.
“The new problem affecting investment is international terrorism…lots
of resources that could be used for development are being diverted to
address security issues.”
As he and many others noted, the only way this can be redressed is
by widening the participation of the private sector in African
economies, the very idea behind the conference in Egypt.
One shining example of how this could be done came from the African
Development Bank (ADB) which announced through its President, Nigeria’s
Akinwumi Adesina that it would be investing 12 billion dollars in the
energy sector in the coming five years to provide access to electricity.
There are 645 million Africans without access to electricity.
President Buhari’s visit to Egypt wasn’t limited to the business of “Africa 2016” in its success, as it turned out to be one that is a remarkable watershed in bilateral ties between the two states.
While it was not surprising that El-Sisi rolled out the red carpet
for President Buhari in line with what many say is a plan by Egypt to
rebuild the country’s money-spinning tourism industry which had been in
tatters since the mid-air bombing of a Russian plane in October 2015,
killing all 223 tourists and crew, the truth is also that these two of
Africa’s three biggest economies have been too far apart it terms of
trade. The two leaders had equally bonded well at their first meeting in
Addis Ababa early in the year.
At the last count, bilateral trade between the two states amounts
to a meager USD 100 million, with Egypt drawing about 80 percent of the
benefits. Egyptian pharmaceutical companies are making good sales in
Nigeria. Egypt is also Nigerians’ preferred destination for medical
tourism. Linked to this is the country’s successful airline business in
Nigeria. Egypt Air does seven weekly flights to Lagos, and six each to
Abuja and Kano.
There is little or nothing to show from the Nigerian side and this one of the things President Buhari wants to change.
In welcoming our president to the bilateral discussion, the
Egyptian leader did not hide his joy at the acceptance of the Nigerian
leader to visit.
The two leaders agreed to strengthen ties between their two states,
to reestablish that historical closeness which helped Nigeria remain a
single country decades ago. They talked about furthering this through
enhanced partnership and cooperation in the areas of trade, security and
defence.
President Buhari welcomed Egypt’s decision to strengthen strategic
cooperation and intelligence sharing with Nigeria, from which a
framework for dealing with terrorism would emerge. To this end, he gave
instructions to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to follow up with a
meeting to structure modalities. Further progress is expected to follow
on security and trade issues. In addition, the President requested
El-Sisi to promote Egyptian investment in education in Nigeria.
The two leaders discussed a range of regional and global issues. As
to be expected, terrorism topped all these. They both expressed concern
that the anarchy in Libya, a disturbing situation that has provided
great impetus to terrorism in areas far and around the failed state. The
leaders also emphasised their cooperation on climate change and energy
issues.
Experts in the field of diplomacy say that personal bonds between
two leaders can help pave the way for better relations among states.
In Nigeria and Egypt relations, there is a good chance of this working to the benefit of the two countries.
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