Thailand-Africa: Thai Deputy Prime Minister on official visit to Nigeria and Ethiopia from August 25 to 29, 2026

Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sihasak Phuangketkeow, will pay an official visit to Nigeria and Ethiopia from August 25 to 29, 2026, as part of the Thailand-Africa Initiative (TAI), according to a statement from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In Nigeria, he will meet in Abuja with Vice President Kashim Shettima, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, and ECOWAS Commission President Omar Alieu Touray, before leading a Thai business delegation to the Thailand-Nigeria Business Forum in Lagos. In Ethiopia, he will hold talks with Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos and a senior representative of the African Union Commission, chair a TAI relaunch reception in Addis Ababa, and participate in the Thailand-Ethiopia: Building Business Bridges event. This tour, the first official visit to Africa by the Thai chief diplomat, is part of Bangkok's economic diplomacy agenda aimed at strengthening trade and investment with these emerging markets. The business forums in Lagos and Addis Ababa could lead to sectoral agreements, the precise nature of which has not been detailed. The choice of Nigeria, home to the ECOWAS Commission, and Ethiopia, seat of the African Union, reflects Thailand's desire to forge ties with continental decision-making centers rather than isolated markets, amid heightened competition among Asian powers for access to high-growth African markets. Bilateral trade volumes between Thailand and these two countries were not disclosed.