Vice President Kashim Shettima embarked from Abuja yesterday to represent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the pivotal International Development Association (IDA21) Heads of State Summit happening today in Nairobi, Kenya.
The summit, convened by Kenyan President William Ruto, aims to rally African leaders towards advocating for a robust replenishment of the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) concessional lending arm.
According to a statement released by Shettima’s media aide, Stanley Nkwocha, Shettima will play a key role in championing Nigeria’s vision for an impactful IDA21 financing package, aimed at catalyzing development across the continent between 2024 and 2026.
The draft “Nairobi IDA Communique,” slated for discussion at the summit, delineates urgent priorities for the upcoming three-year funding cycle of IDA. These include prioritizing human capital development, job creation, improving energy and digital infrastructure, bolstering climate resilience, and fostering sustainable growth.
Expressing gratitude for the $23.5 billion contributed by donors during the current IDA20 cycle, the communique underscores the inadequacy of this financing level to meet the extensive investment needs of African nations. It calls on IDA partners and donors to significantly increase their contributions to ensure a robust replenishment for IDA21.
The Vice President is expected to underscore the pivotal role of partners like IDA in realizing Nigeria’s economic transformation agenda, particularly in light of the nation’s youthful population, which necessitates substantial investments in areas such as job creation, energy access, and human capital development.
The Nairobi summit builds upon previous IDA gatherings held in Abidjan in 2021 and Dakar in 2022, where African leaders rallied for ambitious replenishments for IDA20 from donors.
