Posted by Sunday saw the departure of Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima, who will be attending the upcoming 3rd Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Forum in Beijing, China on behalf of President Bola Tinubu from October 16-18.
Mr. Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications in the Office of the Vice President, made this information public in a statement released on Sunday in Abuja.
According to Nkwocha, Shettima will be among the more than 130 heads of state from across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America who will be discussing the topic of “High-quality Belt and Road Cooperation: Together for Common Development and Prosperity.”
He said the vice president’s job is to use the conference to attract investors to Nigeria so that they can fund additional infrastructure projects.
In keeping with the Tinubu administration’s plan for economic growth, Vice President Nkwocha will be holding bilateral meetings with other international leaders to strengthen trade and investment ties between Nigeria and other countries.
“The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) championed by Chinese President Xi Jinping as a strategy for global infrastructure development was adopted and inaugurated by the government of the People’s Republic of China in 2013. The 2023 edition of the BRI will mark the initiative’s 10th anniversary.
To improve connectivity between Asia, Africa, and Europe by land and sea, “the initiative seeks international action to enhance cooperation and promote infrastructure investment in nearly 70 countries.”
Former President Muhammadu Buhari, he remembered, signed the Belt and Road cooperation agreement with China on behalf of Nigeria in 2018.
Ports, high-rise buildings, railways, highways, bridges, airports, dams, and coal-fired power plants are just some of the infrastructure projects that Nigeria and other partner countries across the world will benefit from thanks to this program.
According to Nkwocha, Yusuf Tuggar, Atiku Bagudu, and Sa’idu Alkali would represent the vice president at the forum as members of the vice president’s delegation.
The Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation is Fidet Okhiria, and the Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission is Michael Ohiani. Also present are the Minister of Works, David Umahi, and the Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite.
According to Nkwocha, the vice president would leave China for the United States of America in order to further the food security and diversification agenda of the Tinubu administration.
On October 24, 2023, Shettima will be in the United States as a distinguished guest, and he will give a keynote presentation at the Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the World Food Prize.
In addition, he will be joining the ranks of other African world leaders, Heads of State and Government, who have given opening remarks at previous iterations of the Borlaug Dialogue.
Kofi Annan, a former UN secretary general; World Food Prize winners; John Kufuor, president of Ghana; Akinwunmi Adeshina, president of the African Development Bank; Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria; and others.
The media assistant added that Shettima would likely discuss the improvements being made by the Tinubu administration in the Nigerian Agrifood industry.
In order to promote investment in Nigeria, the vice president will meet with a wide range of interested parties.
There are a number of events and meetings set up for the vice president once he returns from his US obligations.