The President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, has lauded Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his ‘strong leadership’ as the chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
This was disclosed in a verified post by the U.S. Mission in Nigeria on Sunday evening.
The US President showered praises on the ECOWAS Chair after they met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, which was held in New Delhi, India.
President Biden commended Tinubu’s effort to defend and preserve the democracy of the coup-torn Niger Republic, as well as the West African sub-region.
The 78-year-old President met Tinubu on Sunday on the sidelines of the summit and deepened the US’ enduring commitment to the West African country.
“President Biden welcomed the Tinubu Administration’s steps to reform Nigeria’s economy and thanked President Tinubu for his strong leadership as the chair of the Economic Community of West African States to defend and preserve democracy and the rule of law in Niger and the broader region,” the White House said in a statement.
“Nigeria’s invitation to the G20 Summit is a recognition of Nigeria’s important global role as Africa’s largest democracy and economy.”
President Tinubu had attended the two-day summit with the intention of promoting foreign investment in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy.
“The focus of the summit will be heavily predicated on the urgent need to attract foreign direct investment… and to ensure that we are able to mobilise private capital from around the world toward the development of Nigeria’s public infrastructure,” Tinubu’s spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement.
The summit also saw the official registration of the African Union as a full member of the G20.
Announcing the membership, the Prime Minister of India, said in a verified post on the social networking platform X (formerly known as Twitter), “Advancing a more inclusive G20 that echoes the aspirations of the Global South!
“PM Narendra Modi extends a heartfelt welcome to President African Union and the President of Comoros Azali Assoumani. Thrilled to have the African Union as a permanent member. A milestone for the G20 family indeed”.
Modi welcomed the chair of the AU and Comoros President, Azali Assoumani, with a hug during the summit, which had Nigeria’s President and ECOWAS Chair Tinubu and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa in attendance.
According to Mordi, AU’s membership will energise the G20 and the Global South, a role that India has played since its presidency.