…As China, Nigeria bilateral trade hit N4.97 trillion in 2017***
The President of France, Mr. Emmanuel Macron, will address a joint session of the National Assembly during his official visit to Nigeria in July.
The Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Mr. Denys Gauer, unveiled the plan to Nigeria, visit when he visited the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, on Tuesday.
Gauer said Macron had worked in the French embassy in Abuja early in his career for six months some years ago and has interest in the future and development of Nigeria.
He added that the relationship between Nigeria and France in the last few years have centred on security.
He said President Macron hopes to use the visit to further deepen relations with Nigeria especially in areas such as youths development, culture and creativity, 360 said.
Responding to the proposed visit, Dogara said, a number of lawmakers would be pleased to listen to the French president. Describing Marcon as “a man of our generation”,
Dogara said the french president has brought a lot of youthful zest, dynamism, charisma and appeal to French politics.
The Speaker also took the time to thank the French government for assisting Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists and pledged to give expeditious passage to all bilateral agreements that will be signed between Nigeria and France during Macron’s visit.
Reports say that since assuming power, Marcon has visited five African countries.
Mira Sawlani has already tweeted the impending visit and the countries visited.
Meanwhile, the Consul-General of the People’s Republic of China in Lagos, Mr Chao Xiaoliang, has announced that bilateral trade between China and Nigeria in 2017 amounted to about N4.97 trillion (13.78 billion dollars).
Chao made the announcement at the celebration of the Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival in Lagos by hundreds of Chinese nationals, with their Nigerian and non-Nigerian friends.
According to him, the year 2017 also promoted more fruitful people-to-people friendships between Chinese and Nigerians.
“Let me announce that the bilateral trade between our two countries in 2017 reached 13.78 billion dollars.
“The year 2017 also witnessed a fruitful year of Chinese and Nigerian friendships.
“The cooperation between the two countries is flourishing, especially in the fields of politics, trade, infrastructure development, IT, agriculture and culture.
“Our People- to- People exchanges and cultural exchange programmes are growing rapidly. These achievements cannot be made without the efforts of our Nigerian friends, the Chinese community and enterprises in Nigeria,’’ he said.
.
Chao also said that the Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr Wang Yi, had visited Nigeria last year, to discuss ways of strengthening both countries relations with President Muhammadu Buhari.
The consul-general also said that China and Nigeria had also promoted a number of cooperative projects in 2017, such as the Mambilla Power Project, the Lekki Deep Seaport and the Lagos- Calabar coastal railway.
Chao expressed optimism that there would be “greater opportunities’’ for both countries’ relations this year, especially for implementing China’s19th National Congress of the Communist Party (CPC) and the 40th anniversary of China’s reforms.
The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, is an important Chinese festival celebrated at the turn of the traditional lunar Chinese calendar, which had been running for over 4000 years.
The annual event which is the grandest traditional festival in China, is also an important symbol of Chinese culture.
During the Chinese New Year, families gather together, yearning for a better life, bidding farewell to the old year and ushering in the new one.
Additional report from Citizen
