Buhari off in search of investment as he attends Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari will leave for China today to participate in the seventh Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (Focac) summit scheduled to hold between September 3 and 4 in Beijing.

Floated as a forum through which China could boost its presence in Africa, Focac has involved Chinese leaders meeting with their African counterparts to discuss raw material-for-investment opportunities. Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu, said the president’s first engagement in Beijing will be an interactive session with the Nigerian community at the embassy in Beijing.

Before the formal opening of the Focac summit, President Buhari in his capacity as current Chair of the Economic Community of West African States is expected to deliver remarks at the high-level dialogue between Chinese and African leaders, business representatives and entrepreneurs. He is then scheduled to join President Jinping and other African leaders for the opening and roundtable sessions of the 2018 Focac Beijing summit under the theme Towards an even Stronger China-Africa Community with a Shared Future.

After the Focac summit, President Buhari will hold bilateral meetings with President Xi Jinping and prime minister Li Keqiang to discuss infrastructure financing for strategic projects in Nigeria and the upgrading of Nigeria-China relations from strategic partnership to comprehensive strategic partnership. He will also use the occasion of his audience with the Chinese leadership to assess the progress made so far in Chinese interventions in Nigeria’s key priority infrastructure projects, particularly ongoing projects in the railway and power sectors.

President Buhari will be accompanied to Beijing by his wife, Aisha, who is scheduled to participate in a spouses programme on China-Africa at the Great Hall of the People, under the theme Joining Hands for a Future of Aids.

Also on the President’s entourage are Governors Mohammed Abubakar, Akinwunmi Ambode, Badaru Abubakar and Rochas Okorocha of Bauchi, Lagos, Jigawa and Imo States respectively. Also on the presidential team are Senators Abdullahi Adamu, George Akume, Godswill Akpabio and Aliyu Wamakko.

Foreign minister Geoffrey Onyeama and his colleagues Rotimi Amaechi, Babatunde Fashola, Muhammad Bello, Okechukwu Enelamah, Udoma Udo Udoma, Suleiman Adam,  Ibe Kachikwu and Hadi Sirika will also be on the entourage. Also going are national security adviser Babagana Monguno, the director-general of the National Intelligence Agency Ahmed Abubakar and the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Maikanti Baru.