Now that President Tinubu has decided to end his vacation in France, I hope he seeks an audience with his friend President Macron and asks for the following to get Nigeria off her knees

Ayo Akinfe

[1] Nigeria needs French automobile companies Citroen and Renault to come and open manufacturing and assembly plants in Nigeria immediately as Peugeot did in Kaduna. We need them to make Nigeria the centre of electric car manufacturing

[2] Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi should come and open a facility in Nigeria to manufacture a coronavirus vaccine. The French government should offer them a massive tax rebate for doing so

[3] French creditors should wipe off all Nigeria’s public debts. Our states simply cannot afford to pay back these debts in this harsh post-coronavirus environment

[4] France should grant 50% tax rebates to any of its companies that invests in excess of $1bn in Nigeria

[5] French agricultural companies Agrocomm, the Soufflet Group and Louis Dreyfus should each commit to opening a mega cattle ranch in Nigeria. That will help immensely to combat Nigeria’s current insecurity crisis

[6] Power giant Électricité de France (EDF) should commit to building a 30,000MW hydro-electric power plant in Nigeria by 2025. Make it Africa's largest hydro-electric facility with the capacity to expand and supply the rest of the continent with electricity

[7] French banking giant Crédit Agricole should offer Nigerian farmers, food processors and exporters loans at rates no higher than 5%

[8] Consumer goods company L'Oréal should open a manufacturing facility in Nigeria large enough to serve the entire African market. We are among the most fashion conscious people on earth and for decades, companies like L'Oreal have just been bleeding us dry

[9] Entrepreneur federation, the Mouvement des entreprises de France, should set its members a target of investing at least $10bn annually in Nigeria

[10] The Mouvement des entreprises de France should also commit to training at least 5,000 Nigerian workers and professionals annually under an industrial exchange training programme

Ayoakinfe@gmail.com