Nigerian Economic Summit to discuss ‘partnerships for resilient economy’

Policymakers, business leaders, development partners and scholars will discuss how to create strategic partnerships between the youth, governments, private sector and the civil society at the 26th Nigerian Economic Summit starting on Monday.

The focus of the discussion will be to build resilience for Nigeria’s households, businesses and the general economy.

The Summit with the theme “Building Partnerships for Resilience” is organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning.

The 26th Nigerian Economic Summit will provide a robust engagement platform for participants who will deliberate on topical issues especially those related to recent developments; and in particular the need to amplify the voice of the youth and the issues they have raised in the past few weeks.

“It has become apparent that the level of investments in the youth will determine the pace of economic growth, development, and security of the nation.

“Governments at all levels, especially the sub-nationals and all stakeholders need to refocus youth development programmes from mere prescriptive employment drives to improve the wealth creation capabilities of the youth and find ways to ensure that empowerment policies and programmes adopt a broader and more holistic framework.”

The organisers said a number of sessions and design workshops at the 26th Nigerian Economic Summit will focus on the youth and how their potentials can be harnessed for economic growth and development while highlighting the role of Nigeria’s sub-nationals as frontiers for national development.

Some of the youth sessions at NES#26 include Unlocking the Productive Potential of Nigerian Youth, Empowering Nigeria’s Youth, Our Youth Bulge – Risk or Opportunity and Rethinking Sub-National Competitiveness amongst others.

Some of the speakers at the sessions will include the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Patricia Scotland QC, who will deliver a special address, Chairman of First Bank Nigeria, Ibukun Awosika, and CEO of Connected Development, Hamzat Lawal, amongst others.

Furthermore, some of the panellists that will be speaking at the “Opening Plenary: Nigeria’s Turning Point” include Kayode Fayemi, Governor of Ekiti State; Aminu Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State; and Funke Opeke, CEO, MainOne.

Other speakers include Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Chair GAVI; and a former Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, who will be speaking at an all-female plenary session: “Women in Leadership: Towards the Global Goals.”

Discussions at NES#26 will be anchored on three pillars – Collaboration, Execution and Impact that will be dimensioned across five sub-themes: Mapping the Future; New Trends, New Opportunities, New Horizons; Embracing Technology and Innovation; Building Resilience and Charting the Path to Recovery.

The 26th Nigerian Economic Summit is expected to be a ‘Big Conversation for Action’ that combines in-person and virtual dialogues for stakeholders across the civil society, public and private sector to reflect on the state of the Nigerian economy and rethink the country’s economic fundamentals.