BUHARI ARRIVES U.S. FOR MEETING WITH TRUMP
BUHARI
ARRIVES U.S. FOR MEETING WITH TRUMP
Buhari arrives
U.S. for meeting with Trump. [Photo credit: Official Twitter handle of the
Presidency]
President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday arrived Washington
DC ahead of his four-day working visit to the United States.
The News
Agency of Nigeria reports that the presidential aircraft carrying Mr Buhari and
members of his entourage had left the presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe
International Airport Abuja on Saturday at about 11.35 p.m.
A
Presidency twitter handle tagged; @NGRPresident, confirmed the arrival of the
President in Washington on Sunday at about 4.20p.m (Nigerian time)
It said
“President Muhammadu Buhari arrived Washington DC ahead of his working visit to
the United States.
“He will
meet with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.’’
Mr Buhari
left Abuja on Saturday on an official working visit to the United States of
America, on the invitation of President Donald Trump.
The
president’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, had on Friday
in a statement in Abuja, said Mr Buhari while in America would hold bilateral
meeting with President Trump and would later have a working lunch on April 30.
According
to Mr Adesina, the meeting is to discuss ways to enhance the strategic partnership
between the two countries.
He said
the meeting would also advance shared priorities, such as: promoting economic
growth, fighting terrorism and other threats to peace and security.
“The
meeting will further deepen the US-Nigeria relationship as the United States
considers Nigeria’s economic growth, security and leadership in Africa to be
critical aspects of their strategic partnership.
“Later in the day, President
Buhari will meet with a group of business persons in agriculture and
agro-processing, dairy and animal husbandry,’’ he added.
He said
that ahead of the visit by the president, meetings had been scheduled on April
26 and 27, between senior Nigerian government officials and executives of major
U.S. companies in the areas of agriculture, aviation and transportation.
He said
that in the area of aviation, the Nigerian officials would be meeting with
Boeing, the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world, on the National Carrier
Project.
The
presidential aide said: “On agriculture, they will meet with large equipment
manufacturers with focus on harvesting and post harvesting equipment.
“In the
area of transportation, the officials will meet with the GE-led consortium for
the implementation of the interim phase of the narrow gauge rail concession.
“In the
interim phase, a substantive concession agreement will be negotiated and
finalized to provide the consortium the opportunity to invest an estimated two
billion dollars to modernize the rail line from Lagos to Kano (Western Line)
and from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri (Eastern Line).
“During
the meeting, the concession framework and the interim phase framework
agreements are expected to be signed.’’
He further
disclosed that Nigerian officials would also meet with U.S.-EXIM Bank and the
US Overseas Private Investment Corporation to explore competitive financing
arrangements.
“It is
noteworthy that in 2017, Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and
Investment and the United States Department of Commerce signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to promote and encourage commercial and investment ties
between Nigeria and the United States.
“This is with initial focus on
infrastructure, agriculture, digital economy, investment and regulatory
reforms.”
