President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja on Monday for Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to attend the third edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII).
Malam Garba Shehu, the President’s spokesman who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Sunday said that event was organised by Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Shehu said the three-day event would be held under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz.
The Crown Prince is also the Deputy Premier, Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs and PIF.
”It is noteworthy that the total value of capital inflow into Nigeria increased from 12 billion dollars in the first half-year of 2018 to 14 billion dollars for the same period in 2019,” the presidential aide stated.
According to Shehu, the Nigerian delegation will leverage on the resources in Saudi’s PIF, which aims at becoming one of the largest and most impact sovereign wealth funds in the world.
”Nigerian officials will also take advantage of the summit to accelerate discussions on the planned interest of the Saudi Oil Company, Aramco, to revamp Nigeria’s refineries and new investments in the oil and gas sector,” he said.
According to the organisers, the high-profile conference has proven to be a substantial international platform for expert-led debate among investors, innovators and governments as well as economic leaders, with the power to shape the future of global investment, since it was launched in 2017.
More than 4,000 delegates from over 90 countries are expected to participate in the FII 2019, which will also host 12 workshops on different topics including cities, energy, climate, health, data, mobility, food, travel, sports, shopping and youth.
The President, according to Shehu, will be accompanied by Governors Babagana Zulum of Borno State, Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi and Aminu Masari of Katsina State.
Also on the entourage are, Minister of State, Foreign Affairs, Zubairu Dada, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva and Minister of Communications, Ibrahim Pantami.
Others include the National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (rtd), Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar, and the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kolo Kyari.