Photo Credit: AfricaNewsAnalysis/AM
Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar has cautioned against the weaponization of migration in European domestic politics.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with AfricaNewsAnalysis’ Niels Bartels at the just-ended Berlin Global Dialogue, Mr Tuggar observed that in the domestic politics of Europe the question of migration “has become something of a weapon.
“Political parties used (migration) against each other. We must not allow ourselves to go down that slippery, slippery slope.”
Minister Tuggar referred to a 1973 book written by French writer, Jean Raspail, titled ‘Camp of the Saints’ where “this dystopian world was created where hordes of uncivilised people from Africa were invading Europe and destroying the European culture and civilisation.
“What Jean Raspail, who wrote the book did not understand is that when two cultures meet, it is not one overpowering the other, no, that is almost symbiotic and there is mutual benefit and this is what we hope for in different sectors.
“When you look at it in real terms, the numbers do not show that most of the migration is coming from sub-Saharan Africa. So the fear is ahead of the reality. But having said that, we feel that there are reasonable politicians, the reasonable political parties that would somehow prevail within those countries within Europe that would see that Africa is not a threat, countries like Nigeria are not a threat they are neighbours, they are partners and in the case of Nigeria, because of the sear size of it and the scale, because we can always scale up, there is so much wealth that is going to be created from taking the informal sector to become formal sector. And those who stand with us, who partner with us, stand to benefit. And these are the sort of partnerships we are looking for.”
Speaking on the Draghi Report* and European integration, the Minister stressed that there was still hope for African countries in their quest for integration.
“I am happy to see even in the Draghi Report, they are still talking about how European countries can integrate better. So, it gives us hope that even if Europe, the European Union, is being considered not fully integrated then we on the African continent that are also working towards integrating our markets, it means that we are not doing badly.
“There is still hope and we have the African Continental Free Trade Area for which Nigeria is a major entry point because if you look across the continent, it is Nigerian banks…that are working together with the African Continental Free Trade Area, they are supportive of it, they are supportive of digital trade.”
Talking about digital trade, the Minister said “we are leaders in Fintech,” adding that Nigeria has as many as six Unicorns, an area of growth and in connection to that “you have business process outsourcing where even the Tariffs being imposed today by the US are creating opportunities for Nigerian business process outsourcing companies.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs called on countries to work together to generate jobs and to generate wealth that was required for everybody to benefit.
“The global north makes money out of it, we have employment for our youth so they don’t have to go north, and we also develop because the terms of trade are important, we want to add value at home and we want to export finished goods, not raw materials, not agricultural commodities.”
In a wide-ranging interview, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Tuggar also responded to a question on rumours circulating among Nigerians in the diaspora about a purported new taxation law to be introduced in 2026.
According to the minister, the law does not exist and it is not going to exist in the future, adding that “it was just a case of some people crying wolf. I think it has been clarified, but that’s not the case, it’s been clearly, unequivocally refuted, so there is no such law.”
Minister Tuggar stressed that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu want to continue to support the Nigerian diaspora, because “we consider them our first line of diplomats.
“They project Nigeria positively because they are the first for foreigners, non-Nigerians, to come into contact with, so it’s important that we work closely together with them, which is why one of the four Ds that I mentioned it is one of the pillars of our foreign policy is diaspora. We want to work with them towards projecting a positive image of Nigeria, towards explaining Nigeria. Therefore, we’re very supportive of them. We’re trying as much as we can, in spite of our limited resources, to improve the services we render to Nigerians, consular services in109 missions all over the world.
Furthermore, the minister reiterated that the administration was working with the diaspora towards making it easier for them to remit funds back to Nigeria which happens a lot and it constitutes a very sizeable segment of the contributions to our economy.
Speaking about his expectations regarding the Berlin Global Dialogue, Minister Yusuf Tuggar announced that his expectation was to engage with decision makers from other parts of the world.
“I was happy to see that the Berlin Global Dialogue is growing because I was here last year and this year it is even bigger, so it is very encouraging for me. Berlin is like a second home, anything that are happening that is positive to Berlin, I am always there to support.”
The Foreign Affairs said revealed that out of the discussions at the Berlin Global Dialogue was the emergence of the Green Guarantee Group that seeks to provide credit guarantees for funding Green Projects in the developing world, in Africa.
He described this as “very positive” and called for more support from the German government, “because it is something that can work and it is much needed and it fits into the global finance system because it removes a lot of impediments, it removes a lot of the burden that the developing countries have to bear that results in them having a debt crisis and development crisis,” adding that “this is clearly the way forward, and again, it is a win-win because with guarantees, especially non-sovereign guarantees.
Minister Tuggar said sovereign commitments to secure access foreign funding for projects in the developing countries would lead to the loss of their sovereign assets in the event of a default on the loans.
“Nobody wants that anymore because it would push them into financial crisis and even developmental crisis. But if it is a guarantee that is not tied to any sovereign commitments it makes it easier.”
Draghi Report*
The report looks at the challenges faced by the industry and companies in the Single Market. It outlines how Europe will no longer be able to rely on many of the factors that have supported growth in the past and lays out a clear diagnosis and provides concrete recommendations to put Europe onto a different trajectory.
Leave a Reply