Vice President Kashim Shettima on Wednesday departed Abuja for Sweden on a two-day visit to represent Nigeria in bilateral engagements with the Scandinavian nation.

The spokesperson of the vice president, Stanley Nkwocha, in a statement, said Mr Shettima, during the working visit, will engage in high-level bilateral talks with key government officials.

The visit is at the instance of President Bola Tinubu.

According to him, the vice president will hold a meeting with Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and the Swedish Prime Minister.

Similarly, Mr Nkwocha said Mr Shettima would use the visit to explore opportunities for strengthened collaboration between Nigeria and Sweden.

The talks would be in areas such as ICT, innovation, education, digitalisation, sustainable transport, mining, and agriculture.

Mr Nkwocha said, ”He (Shettima) will also meet with key stakeholders in both the government and private sector.”

He also revealed that the vice president would meet with Norrsken, a Stockholm-based venture capital impact investor, which recently launched Norrsken22, a $205 million tech investment fund for Africa.

Mr Nkwocha explained that Norrsken22 is a technology growth fund backed by over 30 prominent unicorn founders, partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs to build Africa’s next tech giants.

”The meeting with Norrsken will provide insights into how Nigerian entrepreneurs can benefit from this fund and further strengthen the technology ecosystem in Nigeria.

” Notably, 40 per cent of the investments from Norrsken22 are expected to be allocated to Nigerian technology entrepreneurs.

” Twelve Nigerian private sector companies that are doing business with Sweden are going independently as a private sector bloc,” he said.

Mr Nkwocha stated that Mr Shettima is also expected to articulate Nigeria’s economic vision and the reforms being undertaken by the administration to create a business-friendly environment in Nigeria for investors.

He added, ”The myriad of opportunities that abound in Africa’s largest economy will also be showcased.”

The vice-president is expected back in the country on Saturday. 

(NAN)