By Saheed Oyelakin
The president of the Confederation of African Football, Patrice Motsepe, on Tuesday held a bilateral meeting with President Bola Tinubu during the ongoing Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.
During the meeting, the leaders discussed ways to strengthen collaboration between governments, the football ecosystem, and the private sector to drive development initiatives in Nigeria and across the African continent.
CAF shared pictures of the engagement in a post on its X handle.
It wrote, “CAF President Dr. Patrice Motsepe and the Nigerian Head of State, His Excellency Bola Tinubu, met today on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi.
“They discussed several topics, particularly cooperation between the government, football, and the private sector in Nigeria and in Africa.”
Motsepe, who is also scheduled to speak at the summit, is attending the event as preparations intensify for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations, which Kenya will co-host alongside Uganda and Tanzania.
PUNCH Online had earlier reported that Tinubu arrived in Nairobi on Monday for the summit.
According to a statement issued by the Presidency on Monday, Tinubu’s visit to Kenya, the second since July 2023, marks the second leg of a three-nation tour that began with a stop in France, where he met global investors and pledged Nigeria’s commitment to fiscal discipline and economic reform.
The Africa-France Summit, co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President William Ruto, runs from May 11 to May 12.
Themed “Africa Forward: Africa-France Partnerships for Innovation and Growth,” the summit focuses on energy transition, green industrialisation, digital transformation, restructuring of the global financing architecture, and climate action.
Tinubu is also expected to hold high-level bilateral meetings with top-tier global and African business leaders on the sidelines of the summit.
After the Nairobi summit, Tinubu is expected to proceed to Kigali, Rwanda, for the annual Africa CEO Forum scheduled for May 14 to 15.
He is expected to return to Nigeria at the end of the Rwanda leg of the trip, ahead of the APC presidential primary scheduled for May 23.
