From Amechi Ogbonna, Paris
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday told the French and global business community that the Federal Government and its private sector are indeed ready and open for more partnerships in key areas of the economy as it emerges stronger from the challenges of COVID -19 pandemic.
Buhari in an address to participants at the “Nigerian International Partnership Forum, Beyond the Pandemic”, said the Nigerian economy was recovering from the shocks of the global pandemic with government committed to addressing the root causes of crime and insecurity. He said the government has already incorporated public-private economic modeling to help mitigate capital flight while focusing extensively on infrastructure development.
According to the president, France-Nigeria bilateral relations are currently at their best, stressing that his administration was capitalising on the strong political and economic ties between both countries to deepen trade relations by retaining Nigeria as France’s biggest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa.
Buhari noted that the robust bilateral engagement fits into the French plan to reset and re-balance its foreign policy framework in Africa for sustainable and mutually beneficial partnership.
The Nigerian President used the opportunity to stress the link between modern infrastructure and the overall economic development of a nation, noting it was against that backdrop that his government was engaging in the massive infrastructure expansion programmes in various sectors since its coming on board.
According to him , the administration had earmarked an estimated $1.5 trillion cumulatively to be spent within a period of 10 years from 2015.
He said the Nigerian administration was on the right path to achieving multi-sectoral progress, having revitalised the economy by increasing investments in capacity building, health, infrastructure, women’s empowerment, climate change, and food security”
He added: “Most recently in Glasgow and earlier in Riyadh, I stressed the importance of international cooperation in addressing the diverse challenges triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. If anything ever tested multilateralism, and signalled the poor state of international cooperation, it was the absence of a viable global plan for tackling the pandemic. However, with the emergence and efficacy of vaccines, the world anticipates a brighter future.”
For Nigeria, the president said that lessons drawn from the pandemic prompted the country to redouble efforts to mitigate its socio-economic effects, adding that despite the prevailing uncertainties, the equitable and sustainable reform initiatives resulted in substantial economic gains and steady recovery.
He explained that these actions are yielding self-employment, expanding human resource pool and strengthening our national productivity for sustainable development.