The personal assistant to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has confirmed on Twitter that his government will not attend the World Economic Forum Africa being held in Cape Town this week.
Bashir Ahmad on Wednesday afternoon tweeted a travel advisory from Nigeria's ministry of foreign affairs, advising Nigerians not to travel to "high risk" and "volatile areas" in South Africa. This comes after a recent spate of xenophobic attacks in Johannesburg, just days before WEF launched in Cape Town on Wednesday.
The forum sees business leaders from 28 countries in Africa to discuss economic-related issues. While Malawi and Rwanda have confirmed to WEF organisers that they won't be attending, WEF is yet to confirmreports that Nigeria has pulled out.
As per the travel advisory posted by Ahmad, the Nigerian government is engaging with the "relevant South African authorities" via the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria, Consulate General in Johannesburg and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja to put in measures to "curtail the unfortunate attacks".
In the advisory, the Nigerian government condemns the attacks.
"Due to the tension created by the attacks, the government of Nigeria wishes to advise Nigerians to avoid travelling to high risk and volatile areas until the situation is brought under control," the advisory read.
In a second tweet, Ahmad confirms that the government will not be attending WEF, however a former minister and some individuals from the country will be there.
In response to Xenophobic attacks, protesters in Nigeria and Zambia have stormed branches of SA South African companies such as Shoprite and Pick n Pay.
“Several stores in South Africa, Nigeria and Zambia are today unable to open due to protest action and extensive damage has been done to several supermarkets over the past 24 hours, impacting the lives of millions of law abiding people,” Shoprite said in a statement issued earlier on Wednesday.
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