Tinubu seeks German investment in vital sectors

By Matthew Atungwu

President Bola Tinubu has asked for German investment in vital Nigerian economic areas, including electricity and rail transport.

According to a statement released by the president’s spokesperson, Ajuri Ngelale, Tinubu made the request at a meeting with German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz on Monday in Berlin, outside the G20 Compact with Africa Economic Conference.

According to the President, important growth-enabling businesses in transportation, energy, and the generation, transmission, and distribution of electric power require German investment.

The President said that there should be a renewed urgency to the uneven and sporadic implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative, which is backed by Siemens.

“For me, I am very much committed to pursuing all aspects of the Siemens power project and the skill development opportunities that will emerge from that project for our talented youths who can participate in sustaining the industry,” Tinubu said.

He added that Siemens can contribute to Nigeria’s rail network by supplying cutting-edge trains and railroads, just as it is doing in Egypt, where it is building a 2,000 km ultra-high-speed rail network spanning 60 towns.

The German Chancellor, Mr Olaf Scholz said that he was prepared for this but that in order to move forward, financial and administrative obstacles resulting from the sector’s governance issues needed to be addressed.

Tinubu brought up the issue of value-added processing in Nigeria’s solid minerals, agriculture, automotive industry, and other job-generating sectors to the German leader’s notice.