By Tope Templer Olaiya
02 May 2024 | 3:00 am
Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Nigerian leader, President Bola Tinubu, is leading 10 other African Heads of State and Government to the 16th United States African Business Summit to be held in Dallas, Texas from May 6 to 9.
President Bola Tinubu
Convened by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), the gathering would attract more than 1,500 public and private sector executives, international investors, government officials and multilateral stakeholders.
Other African leaders confirmed for the premier event are President of Liberia, Joseph Boakai; his Malawian counterpart, Lazarus Chakwera; Vice President of The Gambia, Muhammad Jallow; President of Angola, Joao Lourenço, and Deputy Prime Minister, Kingdom of Lesotho, Nthomeng Majara.
Others are the President of Botswana, Mokgweetsi E. K. Masisi; his Cabo Verde colleague, José Maria Neves; President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique and Chief Minister of Sierra Leone, David Sengeh.
This comes on the heels that President Tinubu, who was at the just concluded World Economic Forum in Riyadh, had reportedly headed for London, England.
He was yesterday, represented at the Workers’ Day rally in Abuja by his deputy, Kashim Shettima, while others on his entourage, including Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, have since returned home.
A statement last week by presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, said the President arrived in The Hague on April 23 for a series of economic and diplomatic engagements at the instance of Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
It reads: “After his engagements in the Netherlands, President Tinubu will proceed to attend a special World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting scheduled for April 28-29 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.”
While Ngale’s release was silent on when the President would return to Nigeria after the summit, investigation showed that Tinubu, on Tuesday morning, left Saudi Arabia for London.
It was gathered that the presidential aircraft, which conveyed Tinubu, a Gulfstream Aerospace GV-SP (G550) with registration number 5N-FGW and serial number 5310 (Mode-S 0640F2), left Riyadh International Airport at 12:05 am (02:05 am Saudi Arabian time) and arrived at Stansted Airport, London at 06:35 am (UK time).
Facilitated by CCA Chairman, John Olajide, President & CEO of Corporate Council on Africa, Florizelle Liser, the summit is to enable leaders to connect with government and private sector decision makers for four days to drive U.S.-Africa sustainable business partnerships.
Liser noted: “The U.S.-Africa Business Summit, under the theme ‘U.S.-Africa Business: Partnering for Sustainable Success,’ offers an unparalleled opportunity for government officials, business leaders, investors, policymakers, and entrepreneurs to engage in discussions, explore trade opportunities, and forge strategic partnerships to drive economic growth and development across the African continent.”
