President Bola Tinubu of Nigeria held a series of meetings with international investors in Paris this week, the first leg of a three-nation diplomatic tour that will take him next to Kenya for the Africa-France Summit on May 11 and 12 before continuing to Rwanda.
Mr Tinubu used the Paris stop to make the case for Nigeria as a destination for foreign capital, citing macroeconomic reforms introduced since his administration took office and a target of building a $1 trillion economy by 2030. His government reported headline GDP growth of 11.2 per cent in dollar terms in 2025, helped by a stronger naira and oil-sector recovery.
In a Workers' Day address last week the president declared that insecurity and poverty remained "national emergencies" threatening jobs and productivity, citing data showing roughly 65 per cent of Nigerians — about 150 million people — living in poverty. The government said expanded cash-transfer programmes have reached 15 million households.
Several large European asset managers have shown renewed interest in Nigerian sovereign and corporate debt this year, with the country returning to international bond markets in the first quarter for the first time since 2022. Equity inflows remain modest by emerging-market standards.
In Nairobi Mr Tinubu will join African heads of state and President Emmanuel Macron of France for the summit, which is expected to focus on critical-minerals supply chains, climate finance and a new Franco-African investment vehicle. The meeting in Kigali will cover bilateral cooperation with Rwanda on technology and aviation.
Critics in Nigeria's opposition have argued the president is spending too much time abroad as security operations against bandit groups in the north-west and Boko Haram remnants in the north-east continue. The presidency says the trips are essential to lifting the country's investment profile.