WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM.........BY CHINYERE OBELEAGU

No fewer than 10 heads of state and 900 delegates have registered to participate in the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa beginning in Abuja on May 7, an official said. The Media cordinator of the forum, Dr Ogho Okiti, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, saying the affected persons had confirmed their participation. The forum, which has “Forging Inclusive Growth, Creating Jobs” as its theme, will last three days. Okiti said that the participants would come from 70 countries, including 30 in Africa. He said that the countries whose presidents had confirmed participation were Algeria, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali and Nigeria. Others are Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Togo. He said that a former British Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown, and a former President of Brazil, Lula da Silva, would also attend the forum. Okiti said that over 50 top chief executive officers of big global firms would participate in the forum and described the number as “unprecedented.” “It is the first time the summit will hold in West Africa and it is an unprecedented opportunity for both cultural and economic diplomacy for Nigeria and the region. “The summit is also holding in the year that Nigeria marks its centenary and coincides with the celebration of its being the largest economy in Africa,” he said