The Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, has said that his country has identified Nigeria as one of the top investment destination in Africa. Other countries so identified are Egypt and South Africa.
The Prime Minister, in an audience with President Muhammadu Buhari today, Tuesday, in Katowice, Poland, said that as the fastest growing economy in the European Union, his country has identified Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa, as three top investment destinations in Africa.
“We want the hub of our investment destination to be in Nigeria,” the Polish Prime Minister told President Buhari, even as he welcomed the pledge by the Nigerian leader to immediately put in place a framework to encourage more Polish investments in Nigeria.
President Buhari, who commended the Prime Minister for a successful outing at the opening of the COP24 meeting in Katowice, also promised the country’s President, Alain Berset that his government is doing everything possible to secure the release and safe return to their family, of the remaining Chibok girls that were kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists in April 2014.
At a bilateral meeting with the Alain Berset, on the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP24, Nigerian President thanked the Swiss Confederation for its efforts and important role as intermediaries to secure the release of some Chibok girls.
He assured them that the issue of the remaining kidnapped girls and other abducted persons will remain a “key priority” for the Nigerian government.
President Buhari and his Swiss counterpart discussed joint strategies to ensure the safe return of the girls, building on the past successes of securing the release of some of the Chibok girls and other abducted persons in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.
The President also welcomed the Swiss President’s commitment to continue providing humanitarian assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Nigeria and to ensure the safe release of the abducted school girls.
“We will continue to make the safe release of the remaining Chibok girls a priority and will welcome any kind of support from any quarters to make this happen.”
The President told his Polish counterpart that Nigeria is facing serious climate change challenges, particularly the receding Lake Chad, which is a source of livelihood to some 40 million people living in the region.
“Nigeria is totally committed to global efforts to mitigate and adapt to effects of climate change,” President Buhari told the Polish leader, whose country is the president of COP24.
Meanwhile, the President’s bilateral meeting with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Van der Bellen, focused on the challenges of Lake Chad and what is required to recharge it.
He said that the Lake faced the two challenges of technology and financing, saying that enormous financial resources and technology are required to transfer water to Lake Chad from the Congo Basin.
Van der Bellen, who indicated his country’s interest to cooperate with Nigeria on recharging the Lake Chad, talked about climate change challenges in Austria, including drought, glaciers melting, among others.
President Buhari also met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and both leaders followed up on their past discussions, during their last meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, in July, which centred on trade, investments and partnerships in agriculture.
The President welcomed the proposal by the Dutch Prime Minister to visit Abuja soon and promised that the Nigerian government will continue to provide a conducive business environment for existing and prospective Dutch investors.
On the sidelines of COP24, President Buhari also met with the Prime Minister of Estonia, Jüri Ratas.
The Prime Minister of the Northern European country sought Nigeria’s support on its bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.
The two leaders also discussed bilateral cooperation and climate change mitigation.
