Shettima heads to Kenya for IDA21 summit on African development

Vice-President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja for Kenya to represent President Bola Tinubu at the International Development Association (IDA21) summit.

In a statement, Stanley Nkwocha, senior special assistant to the president on media and communications, said the summit would be hosted by William Ruto, Kenyan president.

Nkwocha said the summit will bring heads of state and governments together on the African development agenda.

He said it will be a platform to call for the replenishment of the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) concessional lending arm.

“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 period,” he said.

“In the draft Nairobi IDA communique 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 communique 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.”

The senior special assistant said Shettima will also be advocating for a partnership to strengthen Nigeria’s economic transformation plan.

“This is considering the country’s young population requiring substantial investments in sectors like job creation, energy access, and human capital development,” he added.

“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.”