President-elect Bola Tinubu on Wednesday afternoon departed Nigeria for Europe on a working visit just 11 days before his inauguration.
His media aide, Tunde Rahman, said in a statement that Tinubu would use the opportunity of the trip to fine-tune the transition plans and programmes, and his policy options with some of his key aides without unnecessary pressures and distractions.
“During the visit, the President-elect will engage with investors and other key allies with the goal of marketing investment opportunities in the country and his administration’s readiness to enable a business-friendly climate through policies and regulations.
“Already, meetings with multi-sectoral actors in Europe’s business community including manufacturing, agriculture, tech and energy have been lined up.
“Asíwájú Tinubu hopes to convince them of Nigeria’s readiness to do business under his leadership through mutually-beneficial partnerships premised on jobs creation and skills acquisition.
“Reviving the country’s economy forms a major plank of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda and the meeting is part of his efforts to re-establish Nigeria’s importance in the global economic chain and create empowering opportunities for the country’s huge youth population.
“The President-elect has hitherto promised to hit the ground running and the visit is reflective of his commitment to the promise as he has already begun talks with global actors in the important areas of the economy and security,” the statement said.
Before he left the country, the President-elect met with top candidates for the position of speaker and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas and Benjamin Kalu, respectively.
Tinubu is scheduled to return shortly for preparations towards his inauguration as the 16th president of the country on May 29, 2023.