Buhari welcomes international partnerships to accelerate development

TRACKING____President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his administration’s readiness to collaborate with Horasis Global Visions Community, an international think-tank group, to work solutions to national and administrative challenges.

The President made the position of his government known yesterday in Abuja while speaking at a virtual meeting with members of the Visions Community led by its founder and chairman, Dr. Frank-Jürgen Richter, cross-sectional representatives of state governors and corporate organisations in Nigeria.

According to a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the President said ‘’I am excited about the work that Horasis has been engaged in since it was founded in 2005.

‘’As a platform for frank discussions and generation of multidisciplinary ideas for the resolution of multi-faceted challenges facing mankind, the work of governments and corporate organisations are expected to be impacted more positively,’’ he said.

Buhari accepted the request of the global think tank to create its African hub in Nigeria, commending their vision for an expanded manufacturing through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to make the country a major beneficiary of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (ACTFA) coming into effect next year.

‘’It is my hope that many corporate organisations in Nigeria will be drawn into the mainstream discussion around several challenges facing Nigeria and indeed the rest of Africa,’’ the President said.

Buhari expressed the commitment of the government of Nigeria to the proposed annual Africa Summits of the organisation, with Nigeria hosting, in the strong belief that Nigeria will fully benefit from the meetings.

The Chairman of the group, Frank-Jürgen Richter, commended Nigeria’s economic growth in the last few years and gave strong assurances that the Africa Summits with Nigeria as the hub will bring the benefits of increased FDI.

Other speakers at the meeting, including the Chairman of the Horasis Visions Community in Nigeria and a former Minister of National Planning, Prof Shamsudeen Usman, the Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and the President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, Engineer Mansur Ahmed, expressed excitement about the good prospects of increased manufacturing through FDI to give a competitive advantage to Nigeria in view of the ACFTA.