Nigeria to Establish Direct Air Link with Portugal

President Muhammadu Buhari has announced plans to ensure that Nigeria establishes a direct air link with Portugal as part of measures to boost tourism and people-people contact in the two countries.

The President who was on a State Visit to Portugal said this in a meeting with the Mayor of Lisbon, Fernando Medina.

He, therefore, invited prospective investors to Nigeria as the next top investment destination, saying ‘‘we are ready to extend our bilateral trade beyond oil and gas.

“Nigeria, like Portugal, has many unique, historic, and cultural assets, as well as a developing hospitality industry, which both countries can exploit to promote tourism.

“Both cities are rich in history and are also commercial nerve centres that host multinational corporations, industries, and major seaports. We are optimistic that these shared features can be harnessed to promote increased trade and people-to-people contact for the benefit of our two countries.

‘‘We are also keen to establish a direct air link between our two countries to further stimulate tourism, people-to-people contact and social, sporting and cultural relations,’’ he said.

President Buhari highlighted that Nigeria has made great strides in diversifying its economy beyond oil and gas, recording successes in agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructural development, among others.

Earlier in his welcome remarks, the Mayor extolled Nigeria’s greatness, especially in her ability to turn diversity into greatness: “We have one thing in common. We believe diversity is key. Nigeria is a great nation. Former President Obama said that about you, that you strive to overcome division and turn Nigeria’s diversity into a source of strength, so you are able to build the largest economy in Africa. I so much agree with that.”

“Diversity is a matter of innovation and that’s why we both have excellent innovation ecosystems. You have just opened one of the biggest Urea plants, I think the second in the world and the largest fertilizer centre in Africa making your country self-sufficient.”

“You have produced five out of the seven unicorns, the big companies in Africa. You have one of the biggest projects on biometrics identification that has helped the banking system with relevant contributions for some Portuguese companies. So we want to work with you and your innovators. We need you. We need the African continent. We need to work with you peer to peer,” the Mayor said.

He informed the Nigerian leader of his plan for Portugal to launch a “Unicorn Factory” in Lisbon and his desire to “have those African, Nigerian unicorns with us. Young people that could work with Portuguese people. That will be very important for Lisbon.