French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday arrived in Abuja for a meeting with his Nigerian counterpart Muhammadu Buhari, in his latest attempt to forge closer ties with English-speaking Africa. Macron's jet touched down in Abuja from Mauritania, where he attended the final day of the African Union summit dominated by security issues in the restive Sahel region.
He was met on the tarmac by Nigeria's foreign minister, Geoffrey Onyeama, before the presidential convoy left for Buhari's Aso Rock residence on the edge of the capital. The 40-year-old former investment banker, who speaks fluent English, spent six months as an intern at the French embassy in the city in the early 2000s.
He told reporters travelling with him: "I like Nigeria a lot. It's an appealing country. I've got a lot of memories... that haven't left me." Since coming to power he has made a point of boosting ties with France's former colonies but also improving trade with anglophone countries.
He visited Ghana last year and Nigeria - Africa's economic powerhouse and the continent's leading oil producer - was the next logical step. Nigeria, a country home to over 180 million people, produces nearly two million barrels of crude oil per day and is a key economic partner for France.
Macron said en route from Mauritania that "regional security and the fight against Boko Haram" would be high on the agenda in talks with Buhari, calling him a "key player". Nine years of violence in the remote northeast has spread across the wider Lake Chad area.
As a result, Macron said "the mobilisation of African states is fundamental". Nigeria and its French-speaking neighbours Cameroon, Chad and Niger are involved in a joint military force to combat the jihadists, whose violence has killed at least 20,000 people.
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