Economy: Tinubu jets out to Saudi for 5th Arab-African Summit

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President Bola Tinubu is to attend the Arab-African and Saudi-Africa summits holding this week in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, disclosed this on Sunday while briefing State House Correspondents in Abuja.

He said the attendance of president was predicated on the administration’s drive to use all avenues to attract Foreign Direct Investment into the various sectors of the economy.

‘’The president will use the summit to attract Foreign Direct Investment into the country. The two summits will surely yield tangible economic benefits for the country and Africa.

He added that the president would be aggressive, like in all other of his engagements, in attracting genuine foreign investors into different sectors of the economy.

The Arab-African Summit is aimed at establishing practical solutions for developing Arab-African cooperation and catching up with the emerging and influential international powers in African.

The summit seeks to identify fields for cooperation, build a common vision for sharing knowledge and experience, and identify projects and frameworks for improving bilateral and multilateral ties between Arab and African countries.

‘’In light of the geostrategic shifts unfolding in the international system, Arab countries are collectively and diligently seeking to diversify their strategic partners.

‘’This effort has created opportunities for establishing promising strategic partnerships in several fields with many actors in the international community,’’ Dr Khalid Manzalawi, Assistant Secretary-General for International Political Affairs of the League of Arab States, said at a meeting in Cairo in October.

Some of the objectives of the Summit include reinvigoration of the Arab-African Relations, addressing issues relating to conflicts and counter-terrorism as well as tackling challenges such as poverty, education, health, food security, developmental matters, debt crises, and global challenges like climate change, migration, and humanitarian aid.

The Summit was last held in 2016.

Ngelale said that detailed briefing would be made in the course of the various meetings by the president with investors, which are relevant to the economic rejuvenation of the country.

He said that the president would be accompanied to the summit by cabinet members, the business community as well as other relevant government functionaries.(NAN)