G20: Tinubu Flies to India, Targets Investment Partnerships

By Adedapo Adesanya

President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday departed for New Delhi, India, for the G20 Summit on the invitation of Indian Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, with targets set on boosting Nigeria’s investment climate.

According to official correspondence from the presidency, the country has set targets on investments at the meeting, which plans to dialogue with African leaders on the sidelines.

President Tinubu will deliver the keynote speeches at the Nigeria-India Presidential Roundtable and Business Conference on the sidelines of the summit.

There will be meetings with top business leaders and captains of industry from Nigeria and India, with the goal of attracting partnerships and foreign investments in Nigeria by showcasing Nigeria’s vibrant investment opportunities through the lens of the “Renewed Hope Agenda”, the president’s campaign maxim.

The president will also have bilateral engagements, which will include exclusive meetings with other world leaders to foster economic and trade collaborations.

He will also be sharing Nigeria’s perspective on global unity under the summit theme, “One Earth-One Family-One Future”.

As competition intensifies for global influence amid a US-China standoff and divisions over Russia’s war on Ukraine,  the G20 – a group of countries that constitute 80 per cent of the global GDP and house 60 per cent of the world’s population – is seeking to boost its relationship with African countries.

Among the goals of the summit is to endorse the African Union’s bid to become a permanent G-20 member and a discussion of the consequence of Russia’s war against Ukraine for global food security. Others range from global finance infrastructure, private investments, and infrastructure projects in Africa, as well as the development relating to coups on the continent.

Last month, Vice President Kashim Shettima represented President Tinubu at the 15th BRICS Summit of Heads of State and Government in South Africa. BRICS, an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, a group of five major emerging and developing economies, has positioned itself as an alternative organisation for the Global South against the stronghold of the US and Europe, especially towards issues affecting the developing or the least developed nations.

Although Nigeria did not indicate interest in joining, the group brought into fold Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and the United Arab Emirates as it sought to expand its influence.