Macron Hosts Tinubu to Private Dinner at Élysée Palace

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to a private dinner at the Élysée Palace on Thursday, in a gesture that underscored the two countries' longstanding diplomatic ties and their shared push to deepen bilateral cooperation.

The engagement was confirmed via a photograph shared by presidential aide Bayo Onanuga on X.

The dinner is the latest in a series of direct engagements between the two leaders since Tinubu took office in 2023, part of what officials on both sides have repeatedly described as a personal friendship between the two presidents that has helped anchor a broader strategic relationship.

Their most notable prior encounter came during Tinubu's three-day state visit to France in November 2024 the first state visit by a Nigerian leader to France in over two decades which included a full military honours reception at Orly Airport, ceremonies at Les Invalides, and a state dinner at the Élysée Palace.

French Ambassador to Nigeria Marc Fonbaustier said at the time that Macron had received no other African leader with such elaborate protocol, a reflection both of the personal rapport between the two men and of Nigeria's centrality to Macron's broader Africa policy.

The two leaders have met repeatedly since, including a working lunch at the Élysée in September 2025 during Tinubu's European working vacation, where the Nigerian president described the discussions as "productive" and said both sides had "agreed to deepen our partnership for mutual prosperity and global stability."

Nigeria-France cooperation under this run of engagements has typically centered on a consistent set of priorities: agriculture, security, education, health, youth engagement and employment, innovation, and energy transition, alongside finance, solid minerals, trade and investment.

The two countries have also used these visits to activate business-to-business channels through the France-Nigeria Business Council, while First Lady Oluremi Tinubu and Brigitte Macron have used parallel engagements to focus on empowerment programmes for women, children and vulnerable populations, including Nigeria's Renewed Hope Initiative.

Thursday's dinner appears consistent with that pattern of sustained, personal-level diplomacy between Abuja and Paris, though the specific agenda items discussed have not yet been detailed in Onanuga's release.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/ Science Communicator,
Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,

International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding. ( USIP)

[email protected]
+233555275880

Sources: Bayo Onanuga via X (photo credit); The Guardian Nigeria; BusinessDay Nigeria; Voice of Nigeria (VON); TheCable; Africa Check (historical context)