The President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has accepted an invitation from Nigerian President Bola Tinubu to visit Nigeria later this year.
President Tinubu extended the invitation on Wednesday night during bilateral talks held on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2025.
President Tinubu arrived in Abu Dhabi on Sunday as a guest of the UAE President to participate in the global forum, which fosters the exchange of ideas to support sustainable development and encourages collective action to tackle global challenges, including climate change and the energy and water crises.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Tinubu delivered Nigeria’s position on climate and other pressing global issues at the event and congratulated Sheikh Mohamed for hosting a successful forum.
During their discussions, Sheikh Mohamed expressed his gratitude to President Tinubu for honoring the invitation and emphasized the UAE’s commitment to strengthening economic cooperation with Nigeria.
The two leaders explored avenues to attract investment into Nigeria, with President Tinubu highlighting his administration’s economic reforms. He explained that these reforms are already yielding positive results, stabilizing the economy, and fostering growth. He added that international oil companies and other foreign investors have announced billion-dollar investments, signaling renewed confidence in doing business in Africa’s most populous nation.
“Partner with Nigeria to develop its economy,” President Tinubu urged, as he expressed optimism about stronger ties between the two nations.
The Nigerian President also thanked Sheikh Mohamed for the warm reception extended to him and his delegation since their arrival in Abu Dhabi over the weekend.
Accompanying President Tinubu to the meeting at the Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental were Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar; Minister of Finance, Wale Edun; and National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
On the UAE side, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Chairman of the Presidential Court for Special Affairs; and Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan joined Sheikh Mohamed.
Other UAE officials in attendance included Reem bint Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation; Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology; and Salem Saeed Al Shamsi, UAE Ambassador to Nigeria.