President Bola Tinubu held a private lunch meeting with Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Sunday in Paris, France, where the two leaders discussed world affairs and strategies for advancing Africa’s interests.
The Presidency disclosed the engagement through a photo news release showing the leaders seated at a table in what appeared to be an upscale Parisian restaurant, engaged in conversation over a meal. “President Bola Tinubu at a private lunch in Paris with the President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, discussing world affairs and advancing Africa. Sunday, January 4, 2026,” the statement read.
The meeting comes one week after Tinubu departed Lagos for Europe on December 28, 2025, ahead of his official engagement at the Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week Summit scheduled for early January 2026. The trip, confirmed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, was part of Tinubu’s end-of-year break.
President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates invited Tinubu to participate in the 2026 edition of the weeklong summit, which mobilises global leaders from government, business, and civil society to chart sustainable development initiatives.
Sunday’s lunch continued a series of engagements between Tinubu and Kagame, who have developed a close working relationship since the Nigerian President assumed office in May 2023. Kagame attended Tinubu’s inauguration in Abuja on May 29, 2023, and the two leaders previously met in Abu Dhabi on January 13, 2025, on the eve of that year’s Sustainability Week summit. Tinubu described that discussion as “meaningful conversations” focused on Africa’s development.
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“Nigeria and Rwanda have maintained cordial relations since Rwanda’s independence in 1962, supporting each other in bilateral and multilateral forums, including the United Nations, African Union and Commonwealth of Nations,” the Presidency noted. The relationship has been strengthened through agreements such as a Bilateral Air Service Agreement, allowing multiple weekly RwandAir flights to Abuja and Lagos, and the Technical Aids Corps programme, under which Nigerian professionals are deployed to Rwanda.
Tinubu’s latest European trip has drawn criticism from opposition parties, including the African Democratic Congress and Labour Party, who argued that the President’s departure comes at a time when Nigeria is grappling with rising insecurity, particularly in the North.
Records by PUNCH Online show that Tinubu undertook 10 foreign trips in 2025, covering Africa, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and South America, with a focus on economic diplomacy, climate discussions, regional cooperation, and bilateral engagement. Since assuming office on May 29, 2023, Tinubu has made at least 46 foreign trips, spending an estimated 192 days abroad as of October 2025.