Society Gists

Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, will arrive in Nigeria on Wednesday for a three-day visit.

According to a statement issued by the Bretton Woods Institution on Tuesday, Banga will arrive in the country following a two-day visit to Ethiopia, accompanied by his wife, Ritu Banga.

The bank noted that Banga’s visit is the next step of a global tour that is at the centre of a mission to write “a new playbook for the 78-year-old institution”.

“Banga will focus his time in Nigeria on identifying opportunities to create jobs for young people and women, addressing energy needs and renewable energy, and further exploring the potential for digitisation,” the statement reads.

“As part of these efforts, he will visit a World Bank financed mini-grid power plant that is providing solar energy to an entire community, and a woman-owned business that has generated more than 1,500 service-sector jobs for young Nigerians.”

Banga will also meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice-President Kashim Shettima while in Nigeria, the bank added.

In addition, the World Bank said it will “convene discussions with representatives from the private sector and civil society”.

Banga’s scheduled visit follows earlier trips to Peru, Jamaica, and India.

In June, the World Bank had said Banga’s global tour will last until December 2023.

“Over the course of the tour, Banga will visit small island states in the Pacific as well as countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and North Africa, West and East Africa, Europe, and Asia,” the bank had said.