Vice President Kashim Shettima is on his way to Havana, Cuba, to represent President Bola Tinubu at the G77+China Leaders’ Summit, which will take place from September 15th to 17th, 2023.
He will attend the Summit with other world leaders, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to discuss development concerns confronting the group’s members, the majority of whom are from the global south.
The Summit will also look into proactive approaches to resolving hurdles to member-state development by harnessing science, technology, and innovation to boost socioeconomic progress.
In addition, Vice President Shettima will undertake bilateral talks with other international leaders on the sidelines of the Summit to promote Nigeria’s trade and investment partnerships in keeping with President Tinubu’s administration’s economic growth goal.
The Havana Summit is being hosted by the President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel in his capacity as Chairman of the G77 and China.
The theme of this year’s Summit is: “Current Development Challenges: The Role of Science, Technology and Innovation.”
Nigeria is a founding member of the G77 group, which was established in 1964 by seventy-seven developing countries.
The group aspires to promote its members’ collective economic interests and generate an expanded combined negotiating power in the United Nations. It is a coalition of 134 developing countries representing 80% of the world’s population.
The Vice President is accompanied on the tour by the Ministers of Agriculture and Rural Development, Abubakar Kyari and Uche Nnaji, as well as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Adamu Lamuwa.