2nd Kano Economic & Investment Summit Begins May 23

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The 2017 edition of Kano Economic & Investment Summit also called KanInvest will commence next week on Tuesday, May 23.

The programme is an avenue for stakeholders and bigwigs in the business sector to converge and share ideas concerning issues affecting the economy and as well suggest ways to make it better, especially as it concerns Kano State, the most populous state in Nigeria, according to the 2006 census.

Already, organisers of the event have lined up various personalities to speak during the summit.

Business Post gathered that the theme of this year’s conference, which holds at the Coronation Hall, Government House in Kano, is ‘Transforming the Kano Economy: Turning Challenges into Opportunity.’

The summit, we learnt, will have seven sessions and would have different speakers addressing participants.

Some of the speakers include the Acting President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo; President of Niger Republic, Mr Mahamadou Issoufou; former Head of State, Mr Yakubu Gowon; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udo Udoma; Chairman of Nigeria Flour Mills, Mr John George Coumantaros; UK High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Paul Arkwright; US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Stuart Symington; Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Zhou Pingjian; among others.

The first plenary session, according to information gathered by Business Post, will include Ambassadors of the US, China and the UK, while the second session would be chaired by Mr Abdulsamad Isiaku Rabiu of BUA, who will be discussing Kano Economy and Society.

The third plenary will focus on Attracting Investments for Growth and Empowerment would be chaired by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah.

For the fourth session, Muhammad Hayatudeen will chair it and will discuss optimising growth potentials of key sectors of Kano Economy, while the next session is to be chaired by Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola and would focus on Infrastructure for Development.

The sixth plenary will discuss Governance and Institutions, while the last session, to be co-chaired by Deputy Governor of Kano, Prof Hafiz Abubakar and Dr Kabir Kabo Usman, is tagged Investors’ Roundtable.