By Ameh Gabriel
In a significant move to deepen bilateral relations and development cooperation, Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, on Monday, August 4, 2025, hosted H.E. Dr. Waleed Al-Bahar, Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED), in Abuja for a high-level meeting focused on strategic partnerships across key sectors.
The meeting, according to a statement signed by Alkasim Abdulkadir, Special Assistant on Media and Communications Strategy to the Honourable Minister, signals a renewed momentum in Nigeria-Kuwait relations, rooted in decades of diplomatic engagement dating back to the 1960s.
Welcoming the Kuwaiti delegation, Ambassador Tuggar commended KFAED for its pivotal role in promoting sustainable development across the Global South and acknowledged the Fund’s ongoing support in Nigeria.
Expanding Cooperation Under Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda
Discussions during the engagement focused on scaling up development cooperation in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, particularly in areas such as:
Infrastructure renewal
Human capital development
Youth empowerment
Economic diversification
Poverty alleviation
The Minister placed particular emphasis on education, citing the success of the Reaching Out-of-School Children initiative in Kaduna State an impactful programme supported by KFAED in collaboration with UNICEF. He called for the national scale-up of such interventions to bridge Nigeria’s educational gap.
Shared Interests in Agriculture and Food Security
On food security, Ambassador Tuggar proposed enhanced collaboration on agricultural modernization, including irrigation systems, agro-processing value chains, and technology transfer. He noted that Kuwait’s reliance on food imports creates a shared incentive for innovation and investment in food production and logistics.
Infrastructure and Future Engagements
The meeting also covered potential investments in transportation, renewable energy, and digital connectivity, with the Minister advocating for continued concessional financing and technical support from the Kuwait Fund to facilitate impactful infrastructure projects across Nigeria.
Ambassador Tuggar reaffirmed Nigeria’s readiness to host the inaugural session of the Nigeria-Kuwait Joint Commission for Cooperation before the end of the year. The session is expected to institutionalize bilateral dialogue and accelerate the implementation of agreed projects between both countries.
Commitment to Tangible Results
The discussions concluded on a forward-looking note, with both sides expressing optimism about translating diplomatic goodwill into concrete actions that will yield mutual benefits for citizens of Nigeria and Kuwait.
