Vice-President Kashim Shettima is expected to depart Abuja for Kenya to represent President Bola Tinubu at the crucial International Development Association Heads of State summit in Nairobi on Monday.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice-President, Stanley Nkwocha, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Mr Nkwocha said the high-level gathering would be hosted by Kenyan President William Ruto.

He said that the event would see African leaders unite to call for an ambitious replenishment of the World Bank’s International Development Association concessional lending arm.

He said, “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 periods.  In the draft Nairobi IDA communiqué 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 dollars to the current IDA20 cycle, the communiqué states 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.’’

Mr Nkwocha said that Mr Shettima was expected to emphasise that partners like IDA would be critical to realising Nigeria’s economic transformation agenda.

“This is considering the country’s young population requiring substantial investments in sectors like job creation, energy access, and human capital development. The Nairobi summit follows previous IDA gatherings in Abidjan in 2022 and Dakar last year where African leaders united to call for an ambitious IDA20 replenishment from donors,” he said.

(NAN)