The Choose France summit of global business leaders held at Versailles on 28 June was French President Emmanuel Macron’s opportunity to push French corporates to seek opportunities beyond their comfort zone. “40 years ago, France occupied a prominent position in Nigeria,” President Macron tells The Africa Report. “Major French companies occupied leading positions in the construction, manufacturing and logistics industries. More than 10,000 French nationals used to live in Nigeria at that time.” But, in the early 2000s, challenged by newcomers, French companies lost their way. Michelin and Peugeot, for example, had iconic factories in Port Harcourt and Kaduna respectively – both have since closed. Today, there are not even a thousand French citizens registered at the embassy in Abuja. “The irony is that many successful foreign [non-French] companies employ French nationals in Nigeria today,” says Macron. Of course, not all French companies lose their nerve in Nigeria. Despite having little visibility over the pending shake-up of Nigeria’s oil laws known as the Petroleum Industry Bill, TotalEnergies commissioned the largest offshore platform it has ever built, which is now operating at the deepwater Egina field. At its peak production of 200,000 barrels a day, this represents 10% of Nigeria’s entire oil output.
SOURCE: THE AFRICA REPORT