President Bola Tinubu yesterday played host to the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Scholz, who arrived at the Villa’s forecourt at 03:40 pm (local time), is visiting Nigeria for the first time since assuming office in December 2021.
He will begin his two-day working visit to Nigeria. He is scheduled to meet business leaders in Lagos, today, where he will declare open a Nigeria-German Business Conference organised by the Nigerian-German Chamber of Commerce.
Recall that both leaders met at the 18th G20 Summit in India where the German helmsman told Tinubu, “We acknowledge the business-friendly reforms you have put in place. I am happy to inform you of my desire to visit you in Nigeria in October, which will allow us to carry forward these initiatives.”
Tinubu, during the bilateral political talks with the German leader, assured that his administration is determined to change the narrative about a weak and crawling economy by bringing about transformation to governance.
The President called for improved cooperation in security, natural resources, education, and democracy among others, with the government of Germany.
Tinubu, who said the affirmation of his election by the Supreme Court last Thursday, had removed distractions from his focus on moving the country forward, however, welcomed the German government for more cooperation in multiple areas.
According to him, “Nigeria is still crawling, but we are determined to change the narrative and bring about a transformative government in the country.”
In his response, the German Chancellor highlighted the need for further collaboration on infrastructure, particularly in electricity and energy.
He also thanked President Tinubu for his role in ECOWAS and called for collaboration in ensuring peace and stability in Africa and the world at large.
Scholz is the second European leader to visit the West African state since the Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2022.
On September 7, 2022, Polish President Andrzej Duda, met with former President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, expressing his country’s desire to increase energy imports from Nigeria.
The Russo-Ukrainian conflict has rekindled Europe’s interest in Africa’s energy market as EU nations seek alternatives to sanction Russian supply.
Barely a week before Scholz’s visit, the EU’s Commissioner for Energy in Nigeria, Ms. Kadri Simson, said the bloc was reinforcing its diplomatic relationship with its reliable Liquefied Natural Gas partners like Nigeria in the short-term to enable it to bridge the gas supply gap in the continent that resulted from the war.
Yesterday’s meeting was a continuation of over six decades of diplomatic relations between the two countries, sustained by high-level visits dating back to 1978 when then-Chancellor Helmut Schmidt visited Nigeria.
In November 2008, former German President, Horst Koehler, was received by late President Umaru Yar’Adua in Abuja.
Also, the immediate past Chancellor, Angela Merkel, was the first Head of State outside Africa to visit Nigeria after Goodluck Jonathan’s election in 2011.
She returned in August 2018 to meet Jonathan’s successor, President Muhammadu Buhari.
In 2016, then-President Christian Wulff’s visit to Nigeria led to the signing of several agreements in areas such as energy, trade and culture.
Nigerian leaders have also visited Germany on a number of times.
In November 2003, then-President Olusegun Obasanjo visited the European giant, while President Jonathan also visited the country for a three-day working visit in April 2012.
In his first trip to a non-Africa state, President Buhari attended the 41st G7 summit in Elmau.
Within that period, the two nations have engaged in several bilateral agreements and collaborations, especially in energy and power. Of prominence was the 2019 deal President Buhari signed with German energy company Siemens to generate, at least, 25,000 megawatts of electricity for Nigeria’s electric grid by 2025.
Nigeria has also leveraged Germany’s expertise in renewable energy, especially solar and wind energy, benefiting from technology transfer and capacity building.
In 2022, Nigeria exported €1.9billion euros of oil to Germany, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade. Germany also exported goods to Nigeria, which was valued at €1.1billion euros, with machinery and electronic components being the highest imports.