Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu has been excluded from a scheduled meeting and lunch between President Donald Trump and leaders from five African countries to discuss commercial opportunities aimed at benefiting American and African citizens.
On Wednesday, a White House official said Mr Trump scheduled a discussion with leaders of five African countries including Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal.
The discussion, according to Reuters, will be held at the White House on July 9, focused on advancing relationships between the U.S. and Africa especially in terms of commercial opportunities.
“President Trump believes that African countries offer incredible commercial opportunities which benefit both the American people and our African partners,” the official stated.
While the reason for exclusion of Mr Tinubu remained unclear, Mr Trump had not publicly engaged the African most populous country for any commercial opportunities since he was inaugurated in January.
However, Mr Tinubu in April received a State Department representative from Mr Trump’s administration, Senior Advisor for Africa, in Paris, Massad Boulos,
According to multiple reports, their meeting focused on developing a strategic economic and security partnership between Nigeria, Africa and the United States, which was anchored on mutual respect, prosperity and regional stability.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump recently discontinued U.S. foreign aid for Africa as part of his administration’s plan to curb wasteful spending not in tandem with Mr Trump’s “America First” policies.
In June, the U.S. president also unveiled plans to place a general visa ban on 36 additional African countries including Nigeria, stating that affected countries must meet new requirements laid down by the State Department within 60 days.
