Malheureusement, l’invitation n’est disponible qu’en allemand et en anglais. Nous essayons toujours d’élargir notre offre en langue française et vous remercions de votre compréhension.
On 29 May 2023, Nigeria’s new president Bola Ahmed Tinubu was sworn in. The APC party politician took over from his party colleague Muhammadu Buhari, who stepped down after two terms. Tinubu had prevailed against former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, who was considered an outsider. Both Obi and Abubakar have challenged the election results in court, with a verdict expected before the end of September this year.
The tense political and economic situation in Africa’s most populous country did not make the start easy for Tinubu, who was governor of the megacity Lagos from 1999 to 2007. The deregulation of the national currency, the naira, led to a drastic drop in the exchange rate, which in turn drove up the cost of petrol, among other things. At the same time, the new government’s decision to lift the long-standing fuel subsidy led to a noticeable increase in petrol prices. The situation in the region is also tense, and the coup in neighbouring Niger poses major challenges for Tinubu not only as Nigeria’s president, but also as the current chair of the regional community ECOWAS.
100 days in office is considered an important milestone for taking stock of a term in office: What has the Tinubu government been able to achieve so far? How is the criticism of the conduct of the election in the country being dealt with? What are the key challenges of the coming months and years? And what can be expected from Tinubu’s policies with regard to German-Nigerian relations and Nigeria’s role in the region?
These and other questions were at the core of the online discussion organised by the German Africa Foundation and the Heinrich Böll Foundation.
Programme
Welcome Remarks
Sabine Odhiambo, Secretary General, German Africa Foundation
Discussion
Cynthia Mbamalu, Human rights lawyer and co-founder of Yiaga Africa
Chinenye Uwanaka, Lawyer and founder of the Africa Policy Conversations Initiative (AFPC)
Comment
Jibril Jibril, Economic and Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Germany
Alexandre Callegaro, Deputy Head of West Africa Department, Federal Foreign Office
Closing Remarks
Sabine Odhiambo, Secretary General, German Africa Foundation
Moderation
Jochen Luckscheiter, Director Heinrich-Böll-Foundation in Abuja, Nigeria
