Th Africa CEO Forum is set to hold next month, and one of its key attractions is an exclusive panel discussion on Nigeria’s diversification model, a model that has seemingly pushed the country’s economy outside of oil. Efforts to diversify the economies of many African countries in the past have not been effective, and it is believed that Nigeria’s model can point the way for the rest of Africa.
Diversification of Nigeria’s economy was top of the agenda of Nigeria’s present administration when it resumed office in 2015. Three years on, and it seems there’s no government blueprint for how the country is going to achieve that. Nigeria is still much dependent on oil, with its economy recovering from recession the same time global oil prices recovered from its downturn.
Regardless of this, there have been concerted efforts by other sectors of the Nigerian economy to implement Nigeria’s diversification. Companies have sprung up in the finance, technology, agriculture, entertainment and industrial sectors. From the Yaba startups to the rice mills of Kano, there is a revolution that is weaning itself from Nigeria’s oil dependence.
This diversification of the Nigerian economy will be one of the discussions at the Africa CEO Forum coming up on the 26th and 27th of March 2018. For the first time since its inception, the Africa CEO Forum will be devoting an exclusive panel discussion to “The New Nigerian Economy,” with the major talking point being the analysis of Nigeria’s diversification model. The panel will also discuss why the journey towards economic diversification in other African countries have not lived up to billing, and how the Nigerian model can inspire other African economies.
Nigerian businessmen projected to speak the Forum include Folorunso Alakija, VP of Famfa Oil Limited; Jim Ovia, Founder and President of Zenith Bank; Austin Avuru, CEO of Seplat Petroleum; Yewande Sadiku, CEO of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission; Abdulsamad Rabiu, Executive Chairman of BUA Group; Oluwatoyin Sanni, CEO of United Capital; Tonye Cole, CEO of Sahara Group; Degbola Abudu, CEO of Capricorn Holding Limited; Juliet Ehimuan, CEO of Google Nigeria; Ken Etete, CEO of Century Group, Mitchell Elegbe, CEO of Interswitch and Wale Tinubu, CEO of Oando. They are all part of over 80 high-level delegates from Nigeria that will be attending the Forum.
