The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, will now represent President Bola Tinubu at the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit in Dallas, Texas, not Vice President Kashim Shettima, as announced earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVice President Kashim Shettima who was originally scheduled to represent the President was unable to make the trip following a technical fault with his aircraft, forcing him to make a detour on the advice of the Presidential Air Fleet,\u201d the Presidency revealed in a statement signed Monday evening by the Shettima\u2019s spokesperson, Mr. Stanley Nkwocha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The statement is titled \u2018Minister of Foreign Affairs To Now Represent President Tinubu at US-Africa Summit.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although details of the particular aircraft the VP boarded was not stated, there are indications that the plane is the Gulfstream V aircraft often used by the Vice President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shettima\u2019s predecessor, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, had used the same aircraft while in office (2015 \u2013 2023).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the Buhari years, the Presidency had maintained 10 aircraft. They include Boeing Business Jet (Boeing 737-800 or NAF 001) which is reportedly under maintenance, one Gulfstream 550, one Gulfstream V (Gulfstream 500), two Falcons 7X, one Hawker Sidley 4000, two AgustaWestland AW 139 helicopters and two AgustaWestland AW 101 helicopters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the statement did not disclose the nature of the fault, Nkwocha said the Vice President has since returned to Abuja and \u201cwill carry on with other national duties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The high-profile summit, taking place at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, will bring together political and business leaders from across Africa, the United States, and other regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa, it features high-level dialogues, networking sessions and plenaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
African leaders expected at the summit are Presidents Joseph Boakai of Liberia; Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi; Joao Louren\u00e7o Angola; Mokgweetsi E. K. Masisi of Republic of Botswana; Jos\u00e9 Maria Neves of Cabo Verde and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho, Nthomeng Majara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US-Africa Business Summit aims to foster economic cooperation and explore investment opportunities between the United States and African countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides the summit plenary, the Foreign Minister is expected to speak at the Roundtable on African Infrastructure Investment with a focus on impact and returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is also scheduled to speak on a high-level panel on agribusiness, focusing on transiting \u201cfrom food insecurity to thriving agribusinesses\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, Tuggar will speak at a plenary session on Navigating Africa\u2019s Energy Future as well as chair a session dedicated to promoting the \u2018invest in Nigeria\u2019 initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is also expected to attend other meetings and engagements on the sideline of the summit, the statement read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuggar is expected back in the country at the end of his engagements in the US.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, will now represent President Bola Tinubu at the 2024 US-Africa Business Summit in Dallas, Texas, not Vice President Kashim Shettima, as announced earlier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_rishi_post_view_count":177},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politica","rishi-post"],"rishi__cb_customizer_meta":"","comments_count":"0","yoast_head":"\n