By Abiola Olawale
Vice President Kashim Shettima has officially left Abuja to represent President Bola Tinubu at the prestigious 2025 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) taking place in Davos, Switzerland.
This high-profile event gathers global leaders from various sectors to discuss pressing economic issues and foster international collaboration.
This was made known in a statement by the senior special assistant to the president on media & communications (Office of The Vice President), Stanley Nkwocha.
Shettima is expected to join world leaders, top business executives, and representatives of development partners at the meeting to discuss the state of the world economy and ways of improving its conditions.
In the statement, it was also revealed that the Vice President will hold bilateral meetings with other leaders as well as participate in workshops and forums slated for the annual gathering.
He is expected to attend a workshop on “Roadmap to Co-create Investment Opportunities for Africa’s Frontier Markets,” organized by the African Development Bank in collaboration with the World Economic Forum to boost the flow of capital into Africa’s frontier markets, to scale solutions that build a prosperous, inclusive and resilient continent. It is slated for the Congress Centre in Jakobshorn.
Top on the agenda will be an announcement of the Humanitarian and Resilience Investment(HRI) Roadmap for Africa, in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), and foster partnerships between public and private sector leaders interested in mobilizing investment in Africa’s frontier markets, among others.
The Vice President will also attend a dinner for heads of state, government, and international organizations, as well as Annual Meeting 2025 Crystal Awardees, the International Business Council, and Strategic Partners slated for Kurpark Village, Eiger.
Shettima will also co-chair a forum on “Turning Digital Trade into a Catalyst for Growth in Africa” slated for the Pischa Congress Centre.
The meeting will provide a dynamic platform for forward-thinking dialogue on digital trade and the crucial role of the private sector in advancing the implementation of the AfCTA Digital Trade Protocol adopted by the AU heads of state/government in January 2024.
He will also participate as a panelist in a Stakeholder Dialogue entitled “Global Risks 2025”. The Global Risks Report highlights an increasingly volatile global landscape marked by accelerating geopolitical, technological, and environmental challenges. The event is slated for the Aspen 2 Congress Centre in Davos.
The Vice president will be accompanied by government functionaries including Jumoke Oduwole, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, and Aisha Remi, Executive Secretary of Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC)
He will return to Abuja at the end of his engagements in Davos.