Macron reappoints BUA chair as FNBC President

BUA Group Chairman, Abdulsamad Rabiu

The founder and chairman of BUA Group, Abdul-Samad Rabiu, has been re-appointed as president of the France-Nigeria Business Council (FNBC) by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

This was announced at the July 2022 meeting of the FNBC held in Paris.

Addressing the council, Rabiu thanked members for coming, saying it was a personal honour for him to be a part of the FNBC, and also a privilege to serve as the pioneer president of the council which was inaugurated over a year ago and now, be reappointed.

He equally expressed his appreciation to President Macron for his support and for reappointing him as well as Jean Haas of Relais (France) as President of the Council, and Head of the Secretariat respectively.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has congratulated Rabiu on his reappointment as FNBC president.

Buhari’s congratulatory message was contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu.

The President commended Rabiu for his very pivotal role in nudging forward, the objectives of the association inaugurated a year ago, and for retaining the trust and confidence of members of the strategic council.

Buhari stated that under one year of Rabiu’s leadership, the council had recorded appreciable progress in plans by some of Nigeria’s biggest banks to set up subsidiaries in France, BUA’s partnership with Axes France to build a 200,000bpd refinery in Akwa Ibom, among others.

President Buhari assured the BUA Chairman and pioneer president of the council of Federal Government’s unflinching support as top business leaders continued to build strategic partnerships aimed at improving business relations between the two countries.

He also lauded the efforts of the council for supporting the economic programme of government in the areas of infrastructural development, agriculture, power, job and wealth creation.

According to him, the focus of this administration’s economic diplomacy is attracting foreign investments into the country which makes the ordinary Nigerian a prime beneficiary.

Buhari, therefore, assured Nigerians and all foreign policy stakeholders that having reaped the benefits of major investments into the country in the last seven years, his administration would continue to vigorously promote Nigeria as a preferred and attractive destination to international investors.

The Star