The Secretariat of the World Economic Forum on Monday said it had received confirmation from over 1,000 delegates from about 70 countries about their participation at the international forum.
The Director and Head of Africa, WEF, Elsie Kanza, disclosed this in Abuja at a media briefing on the final preparations for the event where the Federal Government intends to showcase its newly acquired status as the largest economy on the continent.
There have been anxiety in government circles that the recent attacks by terrorists at the nation’s capital may lead to a boycott of the event by some of the delegates.
The attacks had raised questions about the government’s ability to protect the capital from Boko Haram’s bloody insurgency.
The conference has as its theme ‘Forging inclusive growth, creating jobs’.
But Kanza said inspite of the security challenge, a lot of world leaders had confirmed that they would be attending the event which is billed to commence on Wednesday amidst tight security.
According to her, some of the world leaders that have indicated interested to attend the programme are the Presidents of Togo, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Senegal and Ghana.
Others are the Premier of the People’s Republic of China, Prime Ministers of Cote d Voire, Mali , and Madagascar.
She said, “This will be the largest meeting held in Africa in the last 24 years. There is need to have a conversation on what needs to change. Nigeria as a large economy has a role to play in the economic revolution of Africa.
“By 2040 Africa will have a larger workforce than China but 59 per cent of Africa’s youth are currently unemployed because of this Africa needs to focus on inclusive growth in terms of policies so that more people benefit.
“What needs to change is the business model to bring in more people into the supply chain so that citizens can have more roles in influencing change.” Punch
