{"id":253279,"date":"2026-05-21T16:30:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T16:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/?p=253279"},"modified":"2026-05-22T22:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T22:32:20","slug":"nigeria-and-canada-reaffirm-commitment-to-strengthening-bilateral-relations-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/nigeria-and-canada-reaffirm-commitment-to-strengthening-bilateral-relations-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria and Canada reaffirm commitment to strengthening Bilateral Relations."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"xdj266r x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, today, Thursday, 21 May 2026, received the Secretary of State for International Development of Canada, Honourable Randeep Sarai, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tafawa Balewa House, Abuja, on a courtesy visit aimed at deepening bilateral relations between Nigeria and Canada.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">During the meeting, both sides reaffirmed the longstanding cordial relations between Nigeria and Canada and discussed ways of expanding cooperation in critical sectors including trade and investment, renewable energy, education, technology, agriculture, mining, infrastructure, peace and security, as well as people-to-people exchanges.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">The Honourable Minister described the visit as timely and significant, particularly in light of Nigeria\u2019s ongoing economic reforms and efforts aimed at creating a more conducive environment for foreign investment and sustainable economic growth. She highlighted the vast opportunities available in Nigeria\u2019s renewable energy, digital innovation, fintech, solid minerals, and creative sectors, while encouraging greater Canadian investment in the country.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">Amb. Bianca also underscored the importance of enhanced collaboration in intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism efforts, and regional security cooperation, noting that insecurity and violent extremism continue to pose challenges to economic stability and livelihoods within the region.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\">In his remarks, Honourable Randeep Sarai commended Nigeria\u2019s strategic importance on the African continent and acknowledged the growing strength of Nigeria-Canada relations, particularly through the vibrant Nigerian diaspora community in Canada. He reiterated Canada\u2019s commitment to supporting development initiatives focused on education, climate resilience, women&#8217;s empowerment, youth development, and sustainable economic cooperation.<\/div>\n<div dir=\"auto\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"x14z9mp xat24cr x1lziwak x1vvkbs xtlvy1s x126k92a\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">The Canadian Secretary of State further expressed his country\u2019s readiness to strengthen partnerships with Nigeria in areas such as renewable energy, mining, nuclear technology, artificial intelligence, data and infrastructure.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, today, Thursday, 21 May 2026, received the &hellip; <a title=\"Nigeria and Canada reaffirm commitment to strengthening Bilateral Relations.\" class=\"hm-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/nigeria-and-canada-reaffirm-commitment-to-strengthening-bilateral-relations-2\/\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Nigeria and Canada reaffirm commitment to strengthening Bilateral Relations.<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":253280,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-253279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hmfa-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253279"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253281,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253279\/revisions\/253281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignaffairs.gov.ng\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}