The Ambassador of France to Nigeria, Emmanuelle Blatmann, says Nigerian youths are the European country’s main target fore economic investments.
According to her, France is seeking more areas of cooperation with Nigeria in the area of investment, education and vocational training.
“The youths are our main target. Our president is a youth. He believes that the fortune of the African continent lies in the youths. He lived in Lagos and Abuja. We have political, cultural and consular presence in Nigeria,” explained Ms Blatmann.
Ms Blatmann said she brought her team to see how the bilateral relations between Nigeria and France could be extended to the Labour and Employment Ministry.
“Our stock investment in Nigeria is worth about €10 billion. It is far higher than our entire investment in all the French-speaking African countries,” disclosed the French envoy.
She added, “We have about 80 French companies that invested here, employing more than 10,000 Nigerians. We are engaged in educational training programmes, job creation and thereby, participating in the economic growth of Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has urged French investors to take advantage of the nation’s numerous resources and invest in Nigeria
Mr Ngige made the call while receiving Ms Blatmann, and other top French embassy officials on Thursday in Abuja.
The minister in a statement by Charles Akpan, spokesman for the ministry, said Nigeria wanted increased foreign direct investment from France to create more employment opportunities in the country.
Mr Ngige, while commending France’s investment in Nigeria, appealed to the European nation to do more, in order to boost employment in the country.
The minister, who blamed unemployment on the deteriorating security situation in the African region, said a lot of work needed to be done for people to have jobs.
He added that more foreign direct investment from France would go a long way in tackling unemployment in Nigeria and other African nations.
“I am delighted to note that your investment in Nigeria is worth €10 billion, but we need more. You can see that unemployment is ravaging our region in Africa. We will be grateful if you assist us to stabilise our region,” said the minister. “We urge you to do more in agriculture, agro-industries, agriculture extension, and fertilizer production.”
He also told the French ambassador that Nigeria “need technical assistance, to enable us to grow more cash crops,” including assistance for vocational education, “such as carpentry, welding, tiling, plumbing, textiles, bakery and confectionaries, so that more Nigerians will have jobs.”
Mr Ngige appealed for French partnership with Nigerian universities in the area of vocational education, which remains Nigeria’s “low hanging fruit,” for achieving economic prosperity.
He called on the French Development Agency (AFD) to work with the Skills Development Department in the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the area of vocational training.