FRI, APRIL 05 2019-theG&BJournal-African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina will this weekend join Africa’s most influential leaders and thinkers at the Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend, which celebrates the continent’s leadership, debates issues of critical importance to Africa, and charts the way forward for the region.
The 2019 annual event will take place on 5 and 6 April in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, bringing together some of Africa’s most influential thought leaders, civil society, and multilateral institutions.
The weekend’s events also include a ceremony to honour the winner of the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The award is given to former heads of state who have exemplified outstanding leadership. Previous winners include South African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, former Liberian leader Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Mozambique’s Joaquim Chissano.
This year’s edition will focus on African migration, one of the major issues affecting the continent.
During the meeting, Adesina will speak as a panellist at a session on the African youth bulge, migration and jobs. He will join Abdourahmane Cisse, Minister of Oil, Energy, and Renewable energies, Côte d’Ivoire; Hailemariam Desalegn, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia; Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, CEO of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, former Prime Minister of Niger. The panel will be chaired by Valerie Amos, Director of SOAS University of London.
Adesina will also participate in a debate organised by Africa Report and Jeune Afrique entitled: The New Tech Era: Job-killer or Job-creator?, addressing new technology and its potential threat to employment. The president’s agenda also includes important bilateral meetings with former South African First Lady Graca Machel, chair of the Graca Machel Trust, as well as various officials to discuss future partnerships with the African Development Bank.
The weekend begins with a Leadership Ceremony, which will celebrate the life of Kofi Annan, the late Ghanaian diplomat who served as secretary general of the United Nations. Annan passed away in August 2018.
The Ibrahim Prize and Governance Weekend are initiatives of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, established in 2006 to foster sound governance and leadership in Africa. The Foundation is the brainchild of Mohammed Ibrahim, a Sudanese-British businessman.
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