French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to embark on a state visit to Nigeria later this month as both countries move to strengthen bilateral ties and consolidate agreements reached during President Bola Tinubu’s previous visit to France.
According to presidency sources, Macron’s visit is scheduled for October 28 and 29, barring any changes to the programme.
The planned visit will be Macron’s first trip to Nigeria since July 2018, when he visited the country during the administration of the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
It also comes nearly two years after Tinubu undertook a three-day state visit to France in November 2024.
During that visit, Tinubu and Macron discussed several areas of mutual interest, including finance, energy transition, solid minerals, trade, investment and communications.
Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga had said the visit was aimed at strengthening political, economic and cultural relations between Nigeria and France while creating more opportunities for partnership.
Macron’s forthcoming visit is expected to deepen the agreements reached during Tinubu’s 2024 trip and provide an avenue for both governments to advance their bilateral cooperation.
Officials from the French presidency have reportedly begun arriving in Nigeria to engage their Nigerian counterparts and finalise arrangements for Macron’s visit.
Macron, whose second and final term as French president ends in May 2027, has maintained close relations with Tinubu since the Nigerian president assumed office in 2023.
Tinubu has visited France several times since becoming president, including for official engagements, working vacations and private trips.
The President’s most recent stay in France formed part of a working vacation that began with his departure from Abuja on August 30. He spent his first week in London before travelling to Paris.
During his time in the French capital, Tinubu held a private dinner with Macron and met several business leaders, including Vincent Bolloré of the Bolloré Group, whose media and digital interests include Canal+, MultiChoice and Universal Music Group.
Tinubu also met the Chairman of First Holdings, Femi Otedola, during the trip.
His working vacation further featured an infrastructure investment engagement involving the Ogun State Government and DP World.
The President witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ogun State Government and DP World for the development of a Gateway deep seaport in Ogun Waterside and the creation of a Blue Marine Economic Zone.
According to the Presidency, the project is expected to attract $7bn in investment from DP World, a global ports and logistics operator.
Macron’s last visit to Nigeria as French president was in July 2018, when he met the late President Muhammadu Buhari and visited the New Afrika Shrine in Lagos.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s diplomatic representation in France has also recorded a significant development ahead of Macron’s planned visit.
Nigeria’s Ambassador to France, Ayodele Oke, has formally assumed his diplomatic duties after presenting his Letters of Credence to Macron on Monday at the Élysée Palace, the official residence of the French presidency.
Oke is now Nigeria’s 17th ambassador to France and the latest Nigerian envoy to present his credentials to his host country.
Politics Nigeria reports that letters of credence are formal diplomatic documents issued by a country’s head of state to confirm an ambassador’s appointment and officially authorise the envoy to represent the country before the receiving government.