The Afreximbank and the Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF have announced the 2nd African Sub-Sovereign Governments Conference in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The conference is to kick start on the 29th to 30th September, 2022 alongside with Nigeria’s Governor’s Forum meeting.
Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari will give the keynote address when Governors of the 36 States of the Federation and their counterparts on the African continent meet to discuss pertinent subnational alliances.
Preparatory to that effect, the Director General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Mr. Asishana Okauru, has issued out an invitation to all Governors to attend an in-person meeting on Thursday, 29th September 2022.
The meeting, according to the Director General, will begin at 1400 hrs GMT, at the New Nigerian Governor’s Forum Secretariat complex, which will also be commissioned by the forum’s Chairman Dr. John Kayode Fayemi.
Afterward at 6:00pm, local time, there will be a welcome Cocktail for Colleagues of African Governors, for the 2nd Conference of African Sub-Sovereign Governments Network, AfSNET.
The Director, further stated that the Friday’s meeting was being organised jointly by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Afreximbank.
He said the gathering was the 2nd African Sub-Sovereign Governments Conference by the continental institution.
The Conference will herald, among other things, the adoption of an institutional and governance framework for the AfSNET, an Afreximbank initiative, launched in 2021 at the inaugural conference in Durban, South Africa, with the mission of promoting peer learning, cooperation and collaboration among sub-sovereign governments.
AfSNET is expected to boost intra-African trade, investment, industrialisation and development between State and regional governors.
According to the President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Professor Benedict Oramah, “The African Sub-Sovereign Governments Conference is integral to achieving the goals set under the African Continenal Free Trade Area, AfCFTA as it seeks to provide a platform that will promote the building of trade enabling infrastructure, enhance the role of export trading companies and promoting information exchange on trade and investment opportunities, financing instruments and initiatives among Sovereign nations in Africa.
“This conference provides an opportunity for the sub-sovereigns to showcase their projects and network with other sub-sovereigns and businesspeople.” he said.
Meanwhile, Chairman, of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Dr Kayode Fayemi, said the forum “ is partnering with Afreximbank on this initiative because many countries’ policies are often developed by the central governments.
According to him, the subnational is where people feel the impact of governance and it is about time that the subnational leapfrog to a decent pedestal where constructive progress in the economy, like manufacturing, trade and commerce is enhanced.
” This ‘African Sub-Sovereign Governments Conference’, in my opinion, will attract substantial leverage to the subnational and its peoples,” he added.
The 2nd African Sub-Sovereign Governments Conference will host executives and senior representatives of states, provinces, regions, and governorates drawn from African countries and will also include investors and financial institutions from across the continent.
Confidence Okwuchi
