The Federal Government has clarified that its focus at the ongoing ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama, Japan, is on strategic engagements rather than participation in the trade expo.

Presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on Wednesday, addressed concerns raised after a viral photo showed an empty booth labelled “NIGERIA” at the summit.

He noted that while some social media users questioned the unmanned stand despite President Bola Tinubu’s presence, the image gave a false impression of Nigeria’s participation.

Onanuga explained that officials accompanying the President were actively involved in high-level meetings and other key activities aligned with Nigeria’s mission at the conference.

Onanuga said, “While we understand the urge by many social media users to seek clicks with many incorrect posts, we also recognise that the author may have acted out of patriotic concern. But it is a concern inspired by ignorance about Nigeria’s mission at the triennial conference.

The Nigerian delegation to the summit, led by President Tinubu, is laser-focused on its core objectives of achieving tangible outcomes from the scheduled lineup of bilateral and multilateral engagements targeted at driving optimum performance in key sectors of the economy, especially in power, industry and agriculture.

“The Nigerian official delegation working with Corporate Nigeria, represented by some of our leading business leaders, didn’t come to Yokohama and Tokyo to attend any trade expo, designed as an open forum for participating nations.”

He noted that although the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture was slated to host an investment forum on Thursday, the ministers on the delegation were engaged in bilateral sideline meetings.

“At the same time, President Tinubu will lead meetings with the executives of Toyota Corporation, CFAO, UN-Habitat, UNDP, and the International Finance Corporation. The delegation’s schedule does not include participation in an open forum trade exhibition.

“Specifically, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, is leading the pre-activation meeting to execute several power projects in Nigeria that are being funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. One of the projects is the Lagos-Ogun Power Transmission System Improvement, which is designed to improve the wheeling capacity and grid stability and enable the connection of industrial customers on the corridor. There is also the partnership between the National Power Training Institute and JICA to enhance Vocational Training Delivery for the power sector. The third power project is the Distributed Access Through Renewable Energy Scale-up, for which $190m has been provided.

“The Minister of Power is scheduled to negotiate with notable Original Equipment Manufacturers such as TOSHIBA and HITACHI. The Bank of Industry, led by its Managing Director/Chief Executive, Dr. Supo Olusi, is also in high-level discussions with the Japan International Cooperation Agency and other participating multilateral institutions for its annual global fund syndication,” he affirmed.

The TICAD9 Summit, themed “Co-creating Innovative Solutions with Africa”, features three plenary sessions that highlight the established areas of cooperation between Japan and the African Union.