Business leaders, heads of govts, investors arrive Abuja for WEF on Africa

Some world leaders, heads of governments and international investors from Africa, Asia, Europe, U.S. on Wednesday arrived Abuja, Nigeria’s capital for the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa. The delegations from Asia are from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and India.

Other countries include U.S. Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Angola, Namibia, DRC Congo, Rwanda, Ghana and Senegal. Some of the delegates expressed optimism that the economic forum would assist in deepening the continent’s business frontiers. Dr Robbin Mayer, an investment analyst from South Africa said that the forum would help him to understand the Nigerian economy better.

“As analyst, my mission and that of my colleagues is to use the ongoing economic forum on Africa hosted by Nigerian to understudy the financial and government economic policy thrust. We are also seeking to build operational bridges with our colleagues in Nigeria and see a way of creating synergy for wealth creation.’’

Mr David Samuya, a Kenyan small and medium scale operator, said that he was attending the forum to expand his knowledge on the Nigerian emerging Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

“Our hope is that Nigeria will use the forum to share its successes and challenges in growing SMEs,” Samuya said. He also said that the forum would provide his team the opportunity to see beyond the negative image of Nigeria. I must say that am amazed at the achievement of Nigeria from what I have red so far on the Nigerian economy and the drivers of the economy,” Samuya added.

Dr Clement Jones, a U.S. private investor said that WEF on Africa provided him opportunity to combine tourism and business. This is my first visit to Africa and am happy that Nigeria is providing the platform for me to understand Africa and the emerging economies’ potential,” Jones said.

Jones also commended the Federal Government for rebasing Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP), stressing that “the data is the tonic that kindled my interest in attending the forum”.

Meanwhile, Federal Government’s closure of government offices and schools on Wednesday impacted positively on the vehicular traffic in and around Abuja.