World enews: PHOTOS: Junketing President, Buhari Departs Paris For Durban, South Africa

President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday left Paris, the French capital, for Durban, South Africa, for the official Opening Ceremony of the 2nd Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2021 which takes place on Monday.

Buhari in endless junketing was pictured leaving the French capital with some of his aides and making his way to the 5N-FGW (Gulfstream Aerospace) aircraft.

SaharaReporters had earlier today reported the Presidency confirmed the visit in a release on Saturday stated that Buari was expected back to the country on Tuesday, November 16.

SaharaReporters had exclusively reported on Tuesday that Buhari would travel to South Africa, and his media, security and protocol teams had already left for the Southern African country on Thursday.

In a release on Saturday, the Presidency said Buhari would be accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, Director General, National Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Abubakar and the Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Segun Awolowo.

“President Muhammadu Buhari will, Saturday, leave Paris for Durban, South Africa, at a special invitation by President Cyril Ramaphosa, to join other African leaders at the Official Opening Ceremony of the 2nd Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2021 which takes place on Monday.

“The event, holding from November 15 to November 21, is being convened by the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM) in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat.

“The theme of the Fair, Building Bridges for a Successful AfCFTA aims at boosting trade and investment across the African continent. It also promises to create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive across the African continent; bring to fruition the lofty ideas behind the creation of the AfCFTA by providing the platform to further identify and proffer solutions to challenges militating against intra-African trade and; generate market information needed to connect buyers and sellers throughout the continent.

“Global businesses including non-African international brands are expected to key into opportunities generated by the fair, thereby attracting for the continent trade and investment deals worth $40billion. Various Nigerian investors are already in Durban to take advantage of the event,” the Presidency said.

SaharaReporters had on Tuesday reported that Buhari would leave London for Paris on Wednesday or Thursday for the fourth edition of the Paris Peace forum 2021 to be hosted by the French President, Emmanuel Macron.

SaharaReporters gathered that the presidential aircraft which conveyed Buhari, a Gulfstream Aerospace GV-SP (G550) with registration number 5N-FGW and serial number 5310 (Mode-S 0640F2) left the Glasgow International Airport at 10:14pm (9:14 UK time) last Tuesday and arrived at Stansted Airport, London at 11:11pm (10:11pm UK time).

The 5N-FGW (Gulfstream Aerospace) was registered as Nigerian Air Force 1, to replace the Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-700) 5N-FGT that is still in Germany for repairs.