By Garba Shehu-- In the difficult moments of
our history, looking precisely at the period of
Nigeria's war of unity 1966-1971, Egypt proved
to be a strategic partner from helping to train
our military to support with equipment and
aircraft maintenance.
In the course of his bilateral meeting with the
Egyptian leader, Abdul Fattah El-Sisi, President
Muahmmadu Buhari recalled that in the course
of his service in the army, he too received
military training in Egypt.
This 24-hour visit to to the Red Sea resort of
Sharm Al-Shaikh was not just a ‘trip to Egypt’ as
it has been wrongly portrayed, as if it were
primarily bilateral in nature or a ritual courtesy
call on President Sisi. The purpose was to
promote investment and job creation in
Nigeria and throughout West, Central and East
Africa, together with other African leaders
The Sharm el-Sheikh ‘Africa 2016’ conference
aimed at tearing down trade barriers between
North and sub-Saharan Africa – a partnership
anchored by the continent’s biggest and third-
biggest economies (i.e., Nigeria and Egypt) by
the injection of life into a 26-nation free-trade
pact signed by half the number of countries on
the continent a year ago.
The organizers brought together more than
1200 delegates to Sharm el-Sheikh, included
among these the eight Presidents and Prime
Ministers, ministers of trade and investment,
representatives of global financial institutions,
businessmen and investment executives.
It is expected that this new pan-African
initiative will directly benefit Nigeria in its
efforts to expand and diversify jobs and
exports beyond the oil industry – a core
component of President Buhari’s economic
vision for the country. Knocking down trade
barriers within Africa will create new markets
for Nigerian farmers, manufacturers and other
businesses.
In his opening remarks, Egypt's President El-Sisi
said that the forum aimed at "pushing forward
trade and investment in our continent to
strengthen Africa's place in the world
economy."
Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari who
touted an extensive economic agenda said that
this is not without challenges.
"The new problem affecting investment is
international terrorism...lots of resources that
could be used for development are being
diverted to address security issues."
As he and many others noted, the only way this
can be redressed is by widening the
participation of the private sector in African
economies, the very idea behind the
conference in Egypt.
One shining example of how this could be done
came from the African Development Bank,
ADB which announced through its
President,Nigeria's Akinwumi Adesina that the
bank would be investing 12 billion Dollars in
the energy sector in the coming five years to
provide access to electricity.
There are 645 million Africans without access
to electricity.
President Buhari's visit to Egypt wasn't limited
to the business of "Africa 2016" in its success,
as it turned out to be one that is a remarkable
watershed in bilateral ties between the two
states.
While it was not surprising that El-Sisi rolled
out the red carpet for President Buhari in line
with what many say is a plan by Egypt to rebuild
the country's money-spinning tourism industry
in tatters since the mid-air bombing in October
of a Russian plane, killing all 223 tourists and
crew, the truth is also that these two of Africa's
three biggest economies had been too far apart
when it comes to trade. The two leaders also
bonded well with each other at their first
meeting in Addis Ababa early in the new year.
By the last count, bilateral trade between the
two states amounts to a meager USD 100
million, with Egypt drawing about 80 percent of
the benefit.
Egyptian pharmaceutical companies are making
good sales in Nigeria. Egypt is Nigerians'
preferred destination for medical tourism.
Linked to this is their successful airline
business trade in Nigeria. Egypt Air makes
seven weekly flights to Lagos, and six each to
Abuja and Kano.
There is little or nothing to show from the
Nigerian side and this one of the things
President Buhari wants to change.
In welcoming our President to the bilateral
discussion, the Egyptian leader did not hide his
joy at the acceptance of the Nigerian leader to
visit.
The two leaders agreed to strengthen ties
between their two states, to reestablish that
historical closeness which helped Nigeria
remain a single country decades ago.
They talked about doing this through enhanced
partnership and cooperation in the areas of
trade, security and defense.
President Buhari welcomed Egypt's decision to
strengthen strategic cooperation and
intelligence sharing with Nigeria and from this,
a framework for dealing with terrorism would
emerge. For this, he gave instructions to the
Ministry of ForeignAffairs to follow up with a
meeting. Further progress is expected to follow
on security and trade issues. In addition, the
President requested El-Sisi to promote
Egyptian investment in education in Nigeria.
The two leaders also discussed a range of
regional and global issues. As to be expected,
terrorism topped them all.
They both expressed concern that the anarchy
in Libya, a disturbing situation that had
provided a great impetus to terrorism in areas
far and around the failed state.
The leaders also emphasized their cooperation
on climate change and energy issues.
Experts in the field of diplomacy say that
personal bond between two leaders can help
pave the way for better relations among states.
In Nigeria and Egypt relations, there is a good
chance of this working to the benefit of the two
states.
*Garba Shehu is the Senior Special Assistant
(Media and Publicity) to President Muhammadu
Buhari.
Source:www.worldstagegroup.com/worldstagenew/index.php?active=news&newscid=27978&catid=11
Obinoscopy, Mynd44

Ok. We hope to see the fruit in d nearest future.