WEF: 13 Heads of State, Over 1000 Delegates Confirm Participation

NO fewer than 13 heads of state and over 1,000 delegates are expected to participate in the World Economic Forum on Africa, beginning from tomorrow.
Ms Elsie Kanza, Director, Head of Africa, disclosed this at a pre-event briefing on the forum in Abuja, on Monday.
She said the number was one of the largest the forum had witnessed in the many years it had been hosted in different countries.

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“We are expecting over a thousand participants from over 70 countries, more than half will come from African countries and many will come from the business communities, NGOs and religious groups,’’ she said.
She listed some the country’s head of states that would be participating as China, Republic of Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Rwanda, Kenya, Algeria, Tunisia, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Niger and the United States.
She said Nigeria, as the largest economy in Africa, had a great role to play
in the region to ensure positive economic growth.
According to her, Africa by 2040 would have larger work force than china.
Kanza said the major focus of the forum would be on how best to ensure that Africa, with its positive growth rate, could be inclusive.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had reported that the Federal Government had assured all delegates that adequate security measures would be put in place during the forum.
Students writing WAEC exempted from closure of schools, offices in Abuja
Students in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) currently writing the May/June West African Examination Council (WAEC) terminal examinations will not be affected by the closure of public offices and schools in Abuja during the World Economic Forum.
The Federal Government had announced closure of public offices for the three days the forum is going to hold and advised private offices to follow suite.
Announcing the exemption of the students in a statement on Monday, the FCT Secretary for Education, Mallam Kabir Usman, noted that like those on essential services, the students were free to move unhindered to their various examination centres.
He said they were, however, advised to wear their uniforms and carry their identity cards at all times.