Nigerian president visiting

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo arrived in the Eritrean capital Asmara on Monday for two days of high-level talks aimed at enhancing economic cooperation and trade between the two nations. He was due to meet President Isayas Afewerki to discuss possibilities of increased bilateral cooperation, as well as ways to foster closer economic ties between the two African nations. A number of Nigerian and Eritrean ministers will also meet to discuss macroeconomic policy, transport, communications, and international trade. Eritrea and Nigeria first established diplomatic ties in 1998. The two countries raised their relations to ambassadorial level in 2000. Last March, a delegation of five Nigerian parliamentary members visited Eritrea to hold exploratory talks with Eritrean government officials on ways of promoting closer cooperation between the two countries. Obasanjo’s visit, at the invitation from the Eritrean government, comes as a follow up to those talks.