Vice President Kashim Shettima departed Nigeria on Wednesday to represent President Bola Tinubu at the G77+China Leaders' Summit, which will take place in Havana, Cuba, from September 15 to 17.
Shettima will attend the Summit alongside other international leaders, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres, according to a statement from the Office of the Vice President's Director of Information, Mr. Olusola Abiola.
He stated that the summit would discuss development concerns that members, primarily from the global south, faced.
“The summit will equally explore proactive ways of addressing challenges facing the development of the member-states leveraging science, technology and innovation to enhance socio-economic growth.
“Also, Shettima will, on the sidelines of the Summit, hold bilateral meetings with other world leaders to promote Nigeria’s trade and investment relations in line with the economic development diplomacy of the President Bola Tinubu administration.”
In his capacity as Chairman of the G77, Miguel Dz-Canel, President of the Republic of Cuba, would host the Havana Summit, according to Abiola.
The summit's focus is on "Current Development Challenges: The Role of Science, Technology, and Innovation."
He noted that Nigeria was one of the first G77 members, a group of 77 developing countries that was formed in 1964.
“The group, a coalition of 134 developing countries with 80 per cent of world population, aims to promote its members’ collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations,” he added.
Abubakar Kyari, the minister of agriculture and rural development, Uche Nnaji, the minister of innovation, science, and technology, and the permanent secretary of the ministry of foreign affairs would accompany Shettima, he said.
