The Seven Fruits Of President Tinubu’s Qatar Trip

By Dada Olusegun

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, once again, continued his aggressive marketing of Nigeria as the investment destination of the next decade as he displayed his charming charisma on his last trip to the State of Qatar and like he did in India and Germany, the President is back in Nigeria with a bag of goodies; this time with seven major agreements in important sectors of the economy.

During a meeting on Sunday in Doha, President Bola Tinubu and His Highness, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, supervised the signing of the historic agreements between both countries.

These agreements created a gateway for both countries to open a vista of mutual cooperation in the pivotal sectors of education, enterprise development, investment promotion, youth empowerment, mining, tourism, and sports.

Before the signing ceremony at the Qatar Presidential Palace, President Tinubu wearing his usual Nigeria’s Marketer-in-chief garment, assured the Qatar leader of Nigeria’s preparedness to welcome investors into the country and revealed the ongoing reforms in Nigeria that favour innovation and return on investments – two favorite languages of investors.

A very passionate President Tinubu also talked up the huge potential return on investment Nigeria offers to the business leaders at the meeting emphasizing that no other country in the world offers such return at the level that can be gotten from Nigeria.

This is a vintage marketer highlighting the strengths of his product. President Bola Tinubu always hawk the Nigerian product at any given opportunity.

Qatar, for all intents and purposes, is a good arena to market the Nigerian product. They boast of a GDP of around $250 billion for a tiny population of just under 3 million people. When one brings Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund of $500 billion, it becomes obvious why President Bola Tinubu had his gaze set upon the kingdom of Qatar. Investments!

President Bola Tinubu while talking to his host in Qatar also had his eyes beyond attracting Qatari investments into Nigeria. In finding a useful purpose for Nigeria’s huge talent base and human capacity within and outside Nigeria, the President did not fail to mention the potentials of Nigeria’s young population.

Quoting him

“Our greatest strength is our people. Our strength lies in the capacity of Nigerian youths. They have energy, talent, and self-belief. They are quality partners for Qatari industry. They are educated and reliable, and they are proactively seeking to add value wherever they are. A few cannot give a bad name to the many. Nigerian youths are ready to be unleashed for the mutual benefit of both nations.”

The Emir of the State of Qatar, His Highness, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, emphasized that Qatar is open to President Tinubu’s investment push, recalling that he traveled to Nigeria in 2019 owing to his belief that Nigeria is an important and strategic ally on its own and within the context of its role in regional affairs.

President Tinubu in his usual pragmatic manner immediately named the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Mr. Wale Edun as the team leader of the government team that will interface with Qatari authorities in investment identification and implementation moving forward.