Tinubu set for Turkey State visit, as Shettima returns from Davos

There are indications that President Bola Tinubu will next week depart for Turkey on a State Visit

This is as Vice President Kashim Shettima returned to Abuja on Saturday after a week-long diplomatic and economic mission to Guinea-Conakry and Switzerland.

BusinessDay gathered that the President who had recently returned from Abu Dhabi on the 17th of January, after about 20 days absence, is about to jet out again, this time, for a State Visit to the Republic of Turkey.

BusinessDay gathered from sources at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, that the visit is at the invitation of the Turkish government.

Details of the President’s engagements were however not available as at the time of filing this report, it was not also clear, how long the President will be away.

But Vice President Shettima who had represented the President at the World Economic Forum WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland, assured that Nigeria has reclaimed a frontline seat in global and regional policy conversations.

Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media & Communications, Office of The Vice President, in a statement, disclosed that Shettima arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on Saturday, from the World Economic Forum WEF meeting in Davos, Switzerland

Shettima had earlier represented President Bola  Tinubu at the inauguration of Guinea’s President, Mamadi Doumbouya, before proceeding to lead Nigeria’s delegation to the 56th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos.

Shettima described the trip as part of Nigeria’s renewed commitment to regional solidarity in West Africa and its determination to reposition the economy under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope agenda.

One of the highpoints of his engagements in that country was the commissioning of Nigeria House Davos, the Nigeria’s first-ever sovereign pavilion on the Davos Promenade, designed as a permanent investment hub showcasing opportunities in solid minerals, agriculture and the digital economy.

At a high-level WEF session titled, “When Food Becomes Security,” the Vice President outlined Nigeria’s new national food security framework, describing agriculture as a strategic pillar of national security and macroeconomic stability.

Vice President Shettima also joined former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and  Minister of Finance, Mr. Wale Edun, to advance the Accra Reset Initiative, a forum advocating African industrialisation driven by domestic capital and value chains rather than foreign aid.

On the economic front, the Vice President told investors that Nigeria’s macroeconomic indicators were stabilising, citing a projected 4.4 per cent GDP growth in 2026 and a decline in inflation to 12.94 per cent.

He also pointed to Nigeria’s imminent transition into a net exporter of refined petroleum products, anchored by the Dangote Refinery, and the growing export of digital talent.