Sam Ohuabunwa named President as Africa Economic Summit 2024 holds in Abuja

Presidents, Heads of State, other top government leaders, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) from across Africa and beyond, and leading global investors are set to converge on Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city for the Africa Economic Summit (AEC) holding from June 3-4, 2024.

Preparations for the Summit, which will take place at the Continental Hotel, Abuja Nigeria, are already in top gear with the recent announcement of the team that will drive the programme, by the CEO of the Africa Economic Summit Group (AESG), Brian Reuben, through a statement.

The team, according to the statement, is headed by Nigeria’s business and industry top shot, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, the former Managing Director and Chief Executive of Pfizer in Nigeria, and founder and first CEO of Neimeth Pharmaceuticals company which he formed following his successful management buy over of the 60 per cent equity of Pfizer Nigeria from its parent company in New York, United States in 1997.

Mazi Ohuabunwa will serve as President of the Africa Economic Summit (AES) 2024.

A 1976 graduate of Pharmacy from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Ile-Ife, Nigeria, with postgraduate training in Business and Organisational Management from the Columbia University in New York, USA, Ohuabunwa has several firsts under his belt.

For instance, besides being the first Nigerian and possibly the first African to pull through a management buy over of a multinational company in the country and the continent, the pathfinder was also the founding President of the West African Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.

A Fellow of the Nigerian Pharmaceutical Society, Fellow of the West African Post-Graduate College of Pharmacists, Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Pharmacy, Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management, among others, Mazi Ohuabunwa has, in his illustrious career, been Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN).

A man with three national honours – Member of the Order of the Niger (MON), Officer of the Federal Republic (OFR) and National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) – awarded by three different Presidents of the Nigeria, and an acclaimed patriot who has served in several public sector positions, Ohuabunwa’s rich pedigree and varied experiences are sure to be brought to bear in the successful management of the 2024 Africa Economic Summit.

To steer the ship of the Summit with him as Vice Presidents  are other equally distinguished high flyers from across the continent – Jamel Boujdaria, Elias Shoniyin, David Molapo and Joan Ngunnzi.

While Boujdaria, a seasoned diplomat and former deputy chief of the Tunisian Embassy in New Delhi, India, will serve as Vice President for North Africa, Shoniyin, former Foreign Minister of the Republic of Liberia is Vice President for West Africa.

David Molapo, President of ICAN4IR South Africa, will serve as Vice President for South Africa while Joan Ngunnzi, Director of Partnership (East Africa) at Africa Economic Summit Group and a former Minister of Trade and Tourism in Embu Kenya is Vice President for East Africa.

Together, these African patriots will bring together stakeholders in the economy of Africa for a high profile event that will establish concrete pathways for addressing “compelling issues” and providing “strategic guidelines on the competitiveness of African nations.”

According to its organisers, the AES “is the premier platform for promoting thought leadership and collaboration. An annual event that establishes Africa as the frontier of global thinking on major economic, cultural and social issues affecting the world. The objective is to showcase Africa: highlight its infrastructure, business environment and diverse human capital to drive Foreign Direct Investment.”

The Summit, which will offer a huge platform for networking with high net worth individuals and blue chip organisations, will dwell on such themes as “Geopolitics, Trade and Investment; Energy, Transition and Climate Change; Technology and Innovation, and the 2024 Business and Political Outlook.

There would keynotes, round table discussions and theme-focused strategic sessions with thought leaders and subject matter experts, and at the end of the Summit, there would be the “release of a white paper on coordinated actions that governments and institutions should commit to and implement for the improvement of the economy of Africa, strengthening the competitiveness of African companies, addressing security challenges among others.”

For more information about the Summit and for registration, you are to visit www.africaesgroup.com/AES24 or email: admin@africaesgroup.com.