Tag Archives: Francois Hollande

Buhari on a three-day official visit to France; meets Hollande

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President Muhammadu Buhari is on a three-day official visit to France on the invitation of the French president, Francois Hollande for talks on issues of bilateral cooperations.

According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, on Sunday, President Buhari will be accompanied on the visit by the National Security Adviser, Major-General  Babagana Monguno (retd), Permanent Secretaries in the Federal Ministries of Defence, Finance, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Industry, Trade and Investment, as well as the chief executives of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council.

As the composition of his entourage indicates, Adesina said Buhari’s talks in Paris with President Hollande and other senior French government officials would focus on the further strengthening and consolidation of ongoing bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and France in the areas of defence, security, trade and investments.

Apart from his scheduled meeting with President Hollande at the Elysee Palace Monday evening, President Buhari and his team will also confer with the French Minister of Defence, Mr Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French Minister of Finance and Public Accounts, Mr Michel Sapin, the French Minister of Economy and Industry, Mr Emmanuel Macron and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, Mr Laurent Fabius.

The president will also visit the Headquarters of MEDEF, France’s largest federation of investors and employers, where he will participate in a France/Nigeria Investment Forum with leading Nigerian and French entrepreneurs.

The statement further indicated that President Buhari would confer with the Chief Executive Officers of leading French multinational companies, such as Total and Lafarge, on their current and future investments in Nigeria.

The president’s other scheduled engagements in Paris include a meeting with African ambassadors to France and an interactive session with members of the Nigerian community.

The presidential spokesperson said Buhari was due back in Abuja, on Wednesday, after conclusion of his visit to France.

Air France Flies to Ebola-hit Guinea out of ‘Solidarity’: Hollande

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FRANCE-GUINEA-DIPLOMACY

President Francois Hollande said Monday as he hosted a visit by Guinea’s President Alpha Conde, that Air France is maintaining its flights to Ebola-hit Guinea as a sign of France’s “solidarity”.

International help needed to be ramped up for Guinea and other west African nations struggling with the deadly epidemic, which has killed more than 3,000 people since the start of the year, the French leader said. At the same time, those countries suffering “should not be isolated and should remain open,” he said. “That is why Air France continues to work” by maintaining flights to Guinea’s capital Conakry, Hollande said.

Air France, however, in August suspended its services to neighbouring Sierra Leone, which is also beset by the virus. Other airlines, including British Airways, have also halted flights to Ebola-struck parts of west Africa.

Hollande assured Conde of France’s “total solidarity” as Guinea grapples with the disease. Ebola has infected 1,074 people and killed 648 in Guinea.

He said his government has allocated 35 million euros ($44 million) and would soon establish a third Ebola clinic with the dispatch of another 25 French doctors to help Guinea battle the epidemic.