Etisalat Nigeria’s Chairman, Hakeem Belo-Osagie, the telecommunication company’s Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Evans, and President Goodluck Jonathan are among eminent personalities that would be speaking at the Economist Nigeria Summit 2013 billed to hold from March 19 through 20 at Eko Expo Centre, Lagos.

Belo-Osagie will speak on the topic, “The Future of Education in Africa” and the session will be moderated by The Economist’s Middle East and Africa Editor, Xan Smiley.

On his part, Evans who will speak on “Leveraging Technology to Enable Inclusive, Private-Sector Led Growth.” The topic is believed to have been chosen for the workshop because of Etisalat’s leading role in deploying innovative and technology-driven products and services in Nigeria.

Mr. Evans’ presentation comes up on March 19, the first day of the summit. “It is expected to touch on vital points, such as the import of technology to driving change and why Nigeria is lagging behind East Africa in exploiting the potentials of mobile technology,” said a source close to Etisalat Nigeria, adding: “Other areas that he might be focusing on include: What practical steps are needed to develop broadband networks, putting the internet at the centre of a vibrant, knowledge economy? How will citizens’ use of mobile technologies and social networks force industry to rethink business models? And should governments lead the shift to this new reality or just adapt to it?”

News Express learnt that a carefully chosen group of erudite discussants, among them Kennedy Bungane, Chief Executive Officer, Barclays Africa and Head of Africa Group Strategy, Barclays, Saheed Adepoju, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Encipher, and Mark Dean, Chief Technology Officer, IBM Middle East and Africa, will join Evans to dissect his presentation which will be made in Workshop B. The discussions will be moderated by Smiley, Middle East and Africa Editor, The Economist.

The two-day summit themed “Enabling and Implementing Change” will see Nigeria’s President, His Excellency, Goodluck Jonathan present a keynote on “Nigeria: The Transformation Agenda,” in which he might outline his outlook for Nigeria for the next decade.

President Jonathan is also expected to address the security challenges that have become a major concern of businesses, prompting business talk of opportunity and market potential being qualified by worries around mobility and sales consequently raising questions about the future of Nigeria.

He will be joined by a former President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to discuss his presentation. The discussion will be moderated by Mark Eddo, Managing Director, Mark Eddo Media.

To set the tone for Jonathan’s paper presentation and discussion though will be Robert Ward, Country Publishing Director, Economist Intelligence Unit, The Economist, who will present a paper on “EIU Forecast: Outlook on Growth and Challenges Ahead.”

In the paper, Ward will attempt to provide an overview of the global macro-economic picture, talking through growth prospects for Nigeria, Africa as well as its major trading partners while also identifying scenarios and risks which investors should prepare for.

•Photo: Etisalat Nigeria’s Chairman, Hakeem Belo-Osagie.

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