Abdulrahman Dambazau: AMBASSADOR TO CHINA

The University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB) organized a four-day event themed "Belt and Road: Innovation, Dialogue Growth and Exchange Forum." It attracted 700 experts from 40 countries and regions under the BRIDGE FORUM. I had the opportunity to speak where I reflected on the 55 years of diplomatic relations between Nigeris and China. This period focused more on a partnership defined by trade and infrastructure. However, we want the next 50 years to focus on knowledge and people. I see the next phase of China-Africa cooperation to focus not on who gives and who receives, but on what we build, teach and invent together. China-Africa cooperation should move beyond railways and roads into knowledge economy. I concluded my remarks by saying "Education provides the language, science provides the tools, and technology provides the engine." Therefore, we must move from quantity to quality; from government-to-government to people-to-people; and from raw commodities to value addition.

The Group of African Ambassadors in China (GAAC) met to article its position in preparation for the next meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Today the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, HE Olayemi Cardoso and his team arrived Beijing for Roundtable on "Strengthening the Nigeria-China Financial Corridor." A very impactful gathering.

HE Caleb Manassaeh Mufwang, Executive Governor of Plateau state, paid a courtesy call on the Embassy while in Beijing in pursuit of partnership with potential investors in China. This demonstrates the realization of Nigeria's sub-nationals to reach out and take advantage of opportunities available globally. We in the Embassy are always available to support and facilitate such efforts for the overall benefit of Nigeria's developmental plan. HE President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has already opened the door in collaboration of his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership they both signed in 2024. This partnership covers all sectors of national development.

In continuation with my strategic engagement with African Ambassadors in China, I paid courtesy visit on the Gambian Ambassador to China, Lt Gen (Rtd) Masanneh Nyuku Kinteh. By coincidence, we both did our junior staff course in Command & Staff College, Jaji, Nigeria and senior staff course in Ghana Armed Forces Staff College in Teshie, Ghana, though at different times. He has been in China since 2020, and currently the Vice Dean of the West African Group of Ambassadors. We had extensive discussions on China-Africa relationship, and ways to not only to strengthen it, but also ensure that Africa gets the best out of it, especially on the platform of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). We also discussed the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and Gambia, and the extent it has gone. He noted Nigeria's significance in Africa, and what its leadership means to the continent, looking at Nigeria's numbers and economic strength.

Today we hosted the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former Deputy Governor Lagos State, and some Commissioners of Federal Civil Service Commission, who arrived Beijing to conduct promotion exams for senior diplomats in Asia .

China National Electric Engineering Co. Ltd., (CNEEC) was founded in 1979, and through reverse engineering of the western technology it acquired in the 1980s, today under its group company China National Machinery Corporation (SINOMACH), they have established markets in Asia and Africa. CNEEC is the company that built Zungeru 700MW Hydropower Plant in Nigeria. We discussed the wasteful energy project on turning garbage into electricity, and simultaneously make our cities clean. We also discussed exploring collaboration opportunities in the healthcare sector in Nigeria, particularly hospitals and laboratories.

The Fifth Global Digital Trade EXPO took place in Hangzhou, the digital capital of China. The digital trade fair provides a window for comprehensive display of new technologies, new products, and new trends in international digital trade. A matchmaking event themed "African Digital Trade Day - China-Africa Digital Intelligence: Empowering Digital Trade Through Industrial Parks," was organized. I gave a keynote speech on "National Strategies and Market Prospects for China-Nigeria Economic and Trade Cooperation." The AU Permanent Representative to the People's Republic of China, HE Alhaji Sarjoh Bah, was a Special Guest at the event.

Today we received the Chairman and Commissioners of Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission. They paid courtesy call to the Embassy while on Study Tour in China.

Imagine traveling from Maiduguri to Lagos by train in 4 hours. That was about the distance we traveled from Beijing to Qingdao with the high-speed train (about 300km/hr) to attend the 2026 Global Ocean Development Forum, a major international maritime event providing a comprehensive and innovative platform for collaboration, serving as China's flagship global operational mechanism for implementing the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030). The 2026 Ocean Cooperation and Development Forum was themed "From Azure Depths to a Shared Future - Developing a Sustainable Marine Economy for a Beautiful and Prosperous Ocean." In my speech to the Forum, I emphasized that for Nigeria, the blue economy is not a luxury; it is a strategic necessity for our future prosperity. It means food for our families, jobs for our youth, and energy for our growing industries. President Tinubu has shown great vision by establishing a dedicated Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. China has made impressive progress in marine science and eco-environmental protection. I mentioned to the gathering the ongoing collaboration between the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria and the Ocean University of China, Qingdao. They are working on a joint laboratory for river delta research. Africa has a vast coastline and enormous marine resources, but also faces challenges of pollution, overfishing, climate change, and the loss of precious habitats. These problems do not respect borders, therefore require collective action. The African Union has placed the blue Economy on its Agenda 2063, therefore cooperation with China can help transform this vision into reality. The friendship between Nigeria and China is a strong foundation on which we can build even greater cooperation in marine affairs.

In continuation of my strategic engagement with African Ambassadors, today I paid a courtesy call on HE Ambassador Abakar Saleh Chahaimi, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Chad Republic to the People's Republic of China. He was the Chadian Ambassador to Nigeria (2020 - 2024). It was a very important call to the Chadian Embassy considering Nigeria's closeness to Chad, not only as an immediate neighbour, but also because of our shared historical experiences and very close cultural affinity. Chad and the whole of Borno and Yobe states were part of the Kanem-Borno Empire, and had very close ties in the trans-saharan trade. Today we are both members of the Lake Chad Region Commission, and face the challenges of insecurity in the region. The threats from insurgency and terrorism led to the formation of the Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), with Headquarters in Chad. Other members of the Force are Cameroon and Niger, although the latter withdrew its forces due to its issues with ECOWAS. We therefore discussed the implications of such withdrawal, and hope that things will be sorted out in the general interest of the region. Furthermore, we discussed the impact of climate change in the LCBC region leading to desertification and land degradation, while reducing Lake Chad to about one fifth of its original size. These consequences have further led to extreme poverty, unemployment, food insecurity, and forced migration. Forced migration, especially of herders and farmers, is a major trigger of herders-farmers conflicts in the region, and Nigeria in particular. By and large we assessed how the relationship between China and Africa, especially under the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) can be used to tackle these challenges and how the Group of African Ambassadors in China (GAAC) can promote this aspect of cooperation. We agreed that the insecurity challenges must be approached from regional perspective, and China should provide the necessary support to tackle them, especially on developmental issues.

Today, in continuation of my courtesy visits, I called on His Excellency, Ambassador Ibrahima Sory SYLLA of Senegal. We discussed issues and challenges common to West Africa and Africa in general, especially the insecurity in the Sahel region. We further assessed the relationship between Africa and China, in line with the spirit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

As part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of HE President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to revamp the power sector, the Honourable Minister of Power, Chief Joseph Tegbe, was in China to see the various opportunities available in few of the Provinces. He therefore paid courtesy call to the Embassy, along with his team.

The China Institute of International Studies invited me as a Keynote Speaker for an International Seminar with the theme: "New Quality Productive Forces (NQPF): China's Practice and Global Significance." The Seminar was designed to enhance understanding of new quality productive forces, which constitute a key pillar for Chinese modernization. The concept, which is a new model for economic growth, will not only generate fresh momentum for China's economic and social high-quality development, but also deliver new, stable and predictable impetus for the world economy. NQPF moves away from reliance on labour, capital, and natural resources alone, rather it is driven by innovation, technology, green development, and high-quality talent. President Xi Jinping described it as productive forces free from traditional economic growth patterns. The key elements are: innovation as the primary driver; digitalization as the key engine; and green development as the essential feature. For developing countries, such as Nigeria, the old model of relying on raw materials or cheap labor is no longer enough. China shows that by investing in science, technology, and skills, countries can leapfrog and climb the value chain. NQPF requires global collaboration in supply chains, research, and standards. This is an opportunity for Nigeria and China to leverage on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership agreement signed in 2024, to focus on digital economy, green energy, and smart manufacturing. By building resilient and diversified production systems, NQPF helps reduce shocks from pandemic, climate change, and geopolitical tensions.

As a follow-up to our visit to Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region a few weeks ago, the China-Africa Business Council (CABC) called on the Embassy today, to discuss more on several business issues. CABC is an international chamber of commerce jointly established in October 2006 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the China International Centre for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE), and the China Society for Promotion of the Guangcai Program (CSPGP). Its vision is to provide a specialized and internationalized platform to facilitate China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. It has about 4000 member-companies operating in 54 African countries, with cumulative investments exceeding $22 billion. CABC has of recent focused on China's Zero-Tariff policy, and participated in a number of agreements signed between enterprises in both China and Africa. According to Mr Wang Xiaoyong, the Vice Chairman, although they currently have some activities in Nigeria, they want to explore new potential areas for deepening China-Nigeria commercial and private sector collaboration. While they maintain an office in Lagos, they want to establish an office in Kano where there is a significant presence of chinese nationals engaged in trade and commerce, and also opportunity to focus on agriculture. We also encouraged them to establish strong partnership with similar umbrella organizations, such as the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA). We shall work with them to facilitate the promotion of more Chinese companies to invest in Nigeria.

I received in audience Professor Taiwo Asaolu, the Vice Chancellor of University of Ilesa, the Commissioner of Education, Osun State, and the Registrar of the University. They were in China seeking partnership with universities in various research and academic fields, including the Chinese language currently being offered as one of Ilesa's programs. Although a young university that is only 3 years old, University of Ilesa has already established 97 undergraduate programs in 12 Faculties. It boasts of about 14,000 student population, and 1,334 academic and non-academic staff, including 24 Professors. They were in the Embassy for support and guidance in seeking partnerships. The Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Nigeria and China signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2024 provides us with opportunities for strengthening our bilateral relationships, including the education sector. The Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Beijing is always ready to provide such support that will ensure shared prosperity.