President Bola Tinubu on Thursday began a two-day visit to France, with both sides seeking increased economic cooperation and Paris looking to boost ties in English-speaking Africa following a series of setbacks with former allies on the continent.
Macron greeted his counterpart at the historic Invalides memorial complex, with the first official state visit by a Nigerian leader in more than two decades.
The two national anthems rang out in the courtyard of one of Paris’s landmarks, kicking off a visit focused on encouraging economic partnerships between France and Africa’s most populous country.
During the reception, President Tinubu also inspected a guard of honour.
Macron has sought a “renewal” between Paris and Africa since his 2017 election and after military coups and changing attitudes lessened France’s influence on the continent.
Tinubu who arrived in France on Wednesday was received by top French government officials. He is in the European country for a three-day visit.
The Nigerian leader is visiting France at Macron where the duo is expected to discuss issues that will bolster political, economic, and cultural ties between the two nations.
The West African country is the continent’s leading oil producer and has a robust film industry, dubbed “Nollywood”.
But challenges posed by insecurity and corruption have left 129 million Nigerians — more than half the country’s population — living below the poverty line.
For Nigeria, which has been battling soaring inflation and food prices, the visit represents an opportunity to tap economic investment.
Paris’s pivot towards English-speaking Africa signals Macron’s desire to reverse the country’s declining influence on the continent, with visits to Nigeria in 2018, South Africa in 2021 and Ethiopia in 2019.
France suffered a blow when a series of coups from 2020 hit its former colonies in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso.
Banding together, the military rulers who took power then broke off ties with former colonial ruler France and veered towards Russia.
The three Sahel countries are battling jihadist violence that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 and spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.
“France’s leading trading partners in Africa are not French-speaking”, said Togolese economist Kako Nubukpo.
Nigeria was France’s number one trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa in 2023, followed by South Africa, according to the French customs authority.
According to a diplomatic source who asked not to be named, the visit “epitomises” France’s strategy in anglophone Africa and added that Nigeria “wants a partnership of equals, not a lecture”, especially on human rights.
Paris hopes to court others on the continent at the 2026 Africa-France Summit, where France sees opportunities in countries like Kenya and Zambia.
