Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari left Abuja for Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday to attend the third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit.
A statement signed by presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, said that the summit, to be hosted by Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has the theme ‘‘Enhanced Partnership for Common Development and Prosperity’’ and the agenda includes reviewing the cooperation between African countries and Turkey since the last summit in 2014.
“The third Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit is coming on the heels of President Erdogan’s recent State Visit to Nigeria during which several agreements in the fields of energy, defence industry, mining and hydrocarbons were signed to expand existing bilateral ties,” local media reports on Friday quoted the statement as saying.
“The Turkish leader had, during the visit to Nigeria, affirmed his commitment to immediately expand the volume of trade between the two countries to 5 billion dollars and the Nigerian delegation will seize the opportunity of the gathering in Istanbul to enhance cooperation with other partners for more trade and investment opportunities in the country.
“It is expected that the Summit would provide guidelines and direction for cooperation with African countries for the next five years.
“President Buhari will be accompanied on the trip by his wife, Aisha Buhari; the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama; Defence, Maj-Gen. Bashir Magashi (Rtd); FCT, Mohammed Bello; Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire; Agriculture, Mohammed Abubakar; Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo; the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (Rtd); and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Ahmed Rufai Abubakar,” the statement added.
The Nigerian leader is expected back in Abuja on Sunday.
GIK/APA