By Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General of Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau
Opportunity is synonymous with Nigeria. From its lively start-up ecosystem and plans to create the first Smart City in Africa, to its large and determined youth population and abundant natural resources, the country is buzzing with a spirit of ambition and vision. Expo 2020 Dubai will be an invaluable platform to support this by bringing Nigeria and the world together at one global destination with a core mission to encourage collaboration, innovation and creativity.
Expo 2020 will nourish Nigeria’s natural innovative spirit and facilitate the sharing of knowledge and expertise that could lead to significant advancements towards its national goals. Nigeria and the UAE are already exemplifying Expo 2020’s main theme, ‘Connecting minds, Creating the future’, with significant bilateral trade and investment, and a Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier this year between the Lagos State government and Dubai to help create Lagos Smart City.
Lagos’ transformation, aided by Dubai’s knowledge and experience, will empower business growth, attract investment, create thousands of jobs and instil a knowledge-based future. This collaboration will be facilitated even further during Expo 2020, supporting the growth of ideas that improve society while preserving our environment. As the first World Expo in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, we are approaching Expo 2020 from a new perspective; this will be an Expo for all developing nations, including those in Africa.
It will be one of the most inclusive in the 166-year history of World Expos, with more than 180 participating nations, plus multinational companies, organisations and educational institutions. We expect 70 percent of the 25 million visits to be from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of any World Expo. This creates an unparalleled opportunity for Nigeria to connect with the world to create its future.
Expo 2020 will ensure that for the first time each participating nation has their own pavilion under our ‘one nation, one pavilion’ policy. This is an opportunity for Nigeria and all nations to express themselves fully and to create their own connections and opportunities. Country pavilions will be located according to their chosen subtheme – Opportunity, Mobility or Sustainability – rather than being based on their location on the world map. This will encourage natural dialogue and discussion between countries with similar interests, who may otherwise have been less likely to connect at Expos with the previous, geography-based layout.
Participating countries will also have space to initiate their own hosting of dialogue between themselves and other nations, businesses and organisations, helping to create and deepen connections and relations – which could lead to new opportunities or solutions to pressing problems. This deliberate, and unique, strategy is based on Expo 2020’s belief that collaboration and communication between all – and on an equal footing – is key to addressing global problems and advancing humanity.
We are also collaborating with participating countries to create our calendar of events, from national celebrations and immersive cultural experiences to artwork, music and food. I look forward to Nigeria’s vibrant music scene, and perhaps even some scenes from Nollywood, reaching the millions of visitors at Expo. At Expo 2020, we also understand the pressing opportunities and challenges that our burgeoning youth populations face – in the UAE, Nigeria, and most of the Middle East and Africa. We are ensuring that youth are at the heart of Expo, leading up to, during and post 2020, to create their legacy together.
We are already supporting Nigerian start-ups that have a proven positive impact on society or the environment, or both, through our innovation and partnership programme Expo Live. Three Nigerian projects have so far received a grant under Expo Live’s flagship initiative, the Innovation Impact Grant Programme – the highest number of any country. As well as a financial grant, the recipients are receiving business support and exposure to help them expand and potentially take their solutions across the world. They may also have the chance to exhibit at Expo 2020.
Among Expo Live’s Global Innovators is OMOMI, a health and social mobile app and website that helps save children’s lives by providing medical advice to parents based on the Childhood Survival Strategies set by the World Health Organization and UNICEF. It was co-created by a Nigerian doctor after he witnessed unnecessary deaths in rural Nigeria. Since it was launched in 2015, more than 30,000 parents have used the platform. The Expo Live grant will help it reach even more families.
We are helping prepare young people in Nigeria find employment opportunities in the expanding hospitality and retail sectors through Expo Live’s support of Lagos-based West Africa Vocational Training (WAVE). Expo Live is also supporting Ignitia, a start-up providing farmers with a precise weather forecast to help them better plan their crops and land management to increase yields. We hope to see more African innovators, including from Nigeria, participate in future rounds of Expo Live. These are just some of the early signs of the benefits that Expo 2020 will bring to Nigeria, its people and its businesses. We look forward to working closely with this innovative and ambitious nation to use Expo’s global platform to help it move closer to achieving its exciting goals.
