Nigeria Vice President Kashim Shettima on Sunday departed Abuja to represent President Bola Tinubu at the crucial International Development Association (IDA21) Heads of State Summit taking place on Monday in Nairobi, Kenya.
The high-level gathering, being hosted by Kenyan President William Ruto, according to a release issued by Shettima’s media assistant, Stanley Nkwocha, will see African leaders unite to call for an ambitious replenishment of the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) concessional lending arm.
Shettima is expected to take a lead role in advocating for Nigeria’s vision of a transformative IDA21 financing package to accelerate development across the continent over the 2024-2026 period.
In the draft “Nairobi IDA Communique” to be considered at the summit, African heads of state outline urgent priorities for IDA’s next three-year funding cycle, including building human capital, creating jobs, enhancing energy and digital access, building climate resilience, and promoting sustainable growth.
While thanking donors for contributing $23.5 billion to the current IDA20 cycle, the communique stated that this level of financing is inadequate to meet the massive investment needs. It calls on “IDA partners/donors to step up and ensure a robust replenishment for IDA21.”
The Vice President is expected to emphasize that partners like IDA will be critical to realizing Nigeria’s economic transformation agenda, with the country’s young population requiring substantial investments in sectors like job creation, energy access, and human capital development.
The Nairobi summit followed previous IDA gatherings in Abidjan in 2021 and Dakar in 2022 where African leaders united to call for an ambitious IDA20 replenishment from donors.
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
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