Presidednt Goodluck Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to lead investors and policymakers from across Africa and the world to a forum discussing new ways to enable and implement transformation in Nigeria at summit organised by Economist Conferences in Lagos next year.
A statement from the organisers said the President will give the keynote address at the summit, scheduled to take place on March 19 – 20, 2013.
It explained that the forum would provide a platform for over 180 senior level participants to discuss what Nigerian policymakers are doing to implement significant structural reforms in various areas to achieve the administration’s Vision 20-2020. Several other notable speakers are also expected to participate in the two-day summit, the statement added.
It also stated that the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, would lead the discussions on ‘Driving change – Implementing the vision’.
“During the discussion, she will shed more light on her earlier assertion that steady, stable change is all that is required to grow the Nigerian economy as, according to her, the country has a great future and plenty of opportunities for growth,” the statement said.
Head of Conference Programmes CEMEA, The Economist Group, Dougal Thomson, corroborated the minister’s opinion saying: “There is no shortage of vision that will see Nigeria transformed into a dynamic, competitive economy where entrepreneurialism and innovation thrives. But the real need is for action – at all levels.”
According to him, life for the average Nigerian does not reflect the amount of human capital in the country, the wide range of natural resources and a government full of internationally renowned reformers.
“Our flagship Nigeria Summit will focus on what is being done to execute the vision; take a critical look at what policymakers are doing to implement significant structural reforms from education to agriculture to logistics. The summit will examine bestâ€practice experience from other climes and explore what stakeholders can do to enable change,” he said.