President Muhamadu Buhari was among the six invited African leaders to the recent 41st Summit of the G7 countries which held in Germany’s Schlos Elmau Klu Bavaria, between Thursday and Friday June 7th – 8th 2015.

The G7 members comprise the seven most industrialised countries on earth and they come together annually to review the critical challenges facing the world at any particular time. The other countries whose leaders were invited were Liberia, Senegal, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Iraq. The Summit which had all the leaders of the member countries namely United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy and host Germany also invited the representatives of six institutions in Africa including Jacob Zuma the South African President in his capacity as the head of the African Union.
It is significant that the President went to the parley with a shopping list that featured security as top priority, while other issues included the economy, corruption, diminishing foreign direct investment, power and energy as well as infrastructure. Incidentally these issues tally with the core concerns of the G7 forum, which meets once a year to review the state of the world with respect to the economy, terrorism, the environment and other issues of global significance. It would therefore seem that the invitees including Nigeria’s Buhari represent countries that have topical challenges in the designated areas of concern.,
Although the forum’s outcome has attracted varied responses including a scathing appraisal by the international Time magazine which described the enterprise as disappointing, the promise to Nigeria that the Summit will assist the country is heartwarming. It is now left for the President to capitalize on the options open to the country by the G7 offer. However this may be only after he successfully installs a cabinet that will drive his administration, and his programmes as presented to Nigerians and of course the G7 as well.
The fore going notwithstanding the offer of assistance from the G7 needs to be taken in the context of the overall interest of the country, in particular with reference to the geopolitical allignments in the contemporary world. Beyond the offer of assistance to Nigeria, is the fact that much of the dislocations in the economies of the developing world to which Nigeria belongs derive from factors that have strong bearing with the economic and trade policies of the G7 member countries. The G7 members do not offer any free lunch but have their foreign policy initiatives tied to their domestic economies.
And in the relationship between the industrial countries and the developing ones, only fair trade guarantees equity. Just as well, historical evidence has shown that progressively, international trade as it is presently structured has progressively been to the detriment of the developing countries. The most significant dividend from Buhari’s sojourn to the G7 Summit should therefore be the harnessing of insights that will lead to a policy thrust that emphasizes focus on the promotion of increased trade by Nigeria with the rest of the world. In this context the old cliché, that free trade is better than more aid still enjoys currency, as far as the transformation of the Nigerian economy.
It is hoped that in the days ahead the administration will engage in the review of the country’s foreign trade framework to reflect the new thinking of the administration, especially in the context of the new understanding fostered by President Buhari’s visit at the G 7 Summit. The invitation of the selected leaders to the conference is indicative of the trade policy direction of the G7 member countries and where they would want the world to go. A proactive approach by the government can unravel viable responses by the country to exploit optimally the opportunities offered by the G7 hand of friendship.