President Muhammadu Buhari will,
on Monday, depart Abuja for Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to attend the
third edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII).
According to a statement released
by Garba Shehu, the president’s spokesman, on Sunday, the event is organised by
Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Shehu said the event themed,
‘What’s Next for Global Business?’ will hold from October 29 to October 31, and
focus on three key pillars: sustainable future, technology for good and
advanced society.
Shehu said the three-day event
would be chaired by Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the crown prince of
Saudi Arabia, who is also the deputy premier, chairman of the Council of
Economic and Development Affairs and PIF.
“Given the increased investor
confidence in Nigeria’s economy, President Buhari will use the occasion to
speak about the economic opportunities that abound in Nigeria, the
effectiveness of his administration’s policies to improve the business
environment and invite investors to the country,” the statement read.
“It is noteworthy that the total
value of capital inflow into Nigeria increased from 12 billion dollars in the
first half-year of 2018 to 14 billion dollars for the same period in 2019.”
According to Shehu, the Nigerian
delegation will leverage the resources in Saudi’s PIF, which aims at becoming
one of the largest and most impact sovereign wealth funds in the world.
The delegation, he further
stated, would seek foreign investments in critical projects in the country’s
oil and gas sector, particularly the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline –
the 614 km-long natural gas pipeline currently being developed by the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation.
“Nigerian officials will also
take advantage of the summit to accelerate discussions on the planned interest
of the Saudi Oil Company, Aramco, to revamp Nigeria’s refineries and new
investments in the oil and gas sector,” he said.
The president, according to
Shehu, will be accompanied by Babagana Zulum, Abubakar Bagudu and Aminu Masari,
governors of Borno, Kebbi and Katsina state.
Also on the entourage are Zubairu
Dada, the minister of state for foreign affairs; Niyi Adebayo, minister of
industry, trade and investment; Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum
resources, and Ibrahim Pantami, the minister of communications and digital
technology..
Others include the National
Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno (rtd), the national security adviser; Ahmed
Rufa’i Abubakar, director-general of the National Intelligence Agency, and Mele
Kyari, the group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC).
After the conference in Riyadh,
Shehu said the president would proceed to Makkah, accompanied by close personal
aides, to perform the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage) before returning to Abuja.
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