PARIS (AFP)--French Prime Minister Francois Fillon is to pay a
visit to Nigeria this week as part of an Africa tour meant to
highlight France's shift away from its traditional partners.
On his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa, Fillon will arrive
Wednesday in Cameroon, a former French colony, to sign three
agreements on defense, health and immigration.
Accompanied by about a dozen French business leaders, Fillon
travels to Abuja Friday for talks with President Umara Yar'Adua and
Vice-president Goodluck Jonathan.
The prime minister will make an address to the 16-nation
Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, based in
Abuja, before flying off to the restive oil-rich Niger Delta.
Accompanied by Total SA (TOT) Chief Executive Christophe de
Margerie, the prime minister will Saturday visit an oil platform
run by the French company, which gets 10% of its oil production
from the region.
"In Cameroon we are consolidating relations. In Nigeria, we are
establishing new bases," said an official in Fillon's office.
Three agreements will be signed in Nigeria to strengthen
cooperation to fight crime and to help the Nigerian navy combat
offshore banditry.
The French agency for development will sign a EUR30 million
investment accord with Nigeria's Zenith Bank.