Tillerson Arrives Nigeria Today

Ololade Adeyanju/

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected in Abuja today.

U.S. Mission Nigeria announced on its Twitter handle, @USEmbassyAbuja, today: “Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has visited Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya & Chad on his first trip to Africa as Secretary. Today, the Secretary will arrive in Abuja, Nigeria to further the US-Nigeria partnership & advance our common goals.”

Tillerson’s arrival in Nigeria will mark the final leg of the first, which began March 6,

A statement by the US state department at the beginning of the visit said Tillerson would seek to establish “a new framework for U.S.-Africa relations that will help lead Africa to a place of prosperity and freedom in the 21st century”.

The statement quoted Tillerson himself as saying in a March 6 speech at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia that “our country’s security and economic prosperity are linked with Africa’s like never before”.

Tillerson also reportedly noted that six of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world this year will be African, while adding: “To understand where the world is going, one must understand Africa is the future.”