Tinubu also urged the US govt to be innovative by creating incentives for its investment in Nigeria
By Kehinde Okeowo
President Bola Tinubu has agreed to meet his United States counterpart, Joe Biden, on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting during the 78th session of the organisation scheduled to open on September 12 in New York.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Aguri Ngelale, made this known on Saturday, in a statement made available to journalists, after a meeting between Tinubu and US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Molly Phee.
The president during the meeting, reiterated that under his watch, Nigeria will create an enabling environment for private businesses.
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He also urged the US government to be innovative by creating incentives for its investment in Nigeria.
“Yes, the private sector will lead the way within an enabling environment we create for them. However, the U.S. Government must be innovative and systematically create incentives for U.S. industrial investment in Nigeria. Under my leadership, Nigeria stands ready to address its specific regulatory, tax and environmental concerns. I am determined to create prosperity for all Nigerian families,” he said.
On his part, Phee said the US government is committed to improving incentives for its large-scale investment in Nigeria.
“President Joe Biden is asking to meet with you on the sidelines of UNGA, and you are the only African leader he has requested to meet. It is a mark of his high regard for your leadership,” the US Presidential Envoy said.
During the parley, Tinubu also told Phee that going to war against the Niger Republic coup plotters is not ideal for Nigeria’s economic reforms or the economy of the West African sub-region.
“We are deep in our attempts to peacefully settle the issue in Niger by leveraging our diplomatic tools. Despite its readiness for all options, I continue to hold ECOWAS back to exhaust all other remedial mechanisms. War is neither ideal for my economic reforms nor the region, but the defence of democracy is sacrosanct. The ECOWAS consensus is that we will not allow anyone to buy time insincerely,” he said.