Jack Ma, the co-founder and former chairman of Alibaba Group (the renowned e-commerce and tech firm)), has arrived in Nigeria for the first Digital Economy Summit in Abuja.
Ma is a Special Guest Speaker at the event theme, “Leveraging Digital Economy for Trade & Investment." The two-day summit is organised by the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment and it will end on Friday, November 15th, 2019.
Live streaming of event here:
The summit will feature discussion around the digital economy, innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit of a youthful populace.
Niyi Adebayo, Nigeria's minister of industry, trade, and investment, in a pre-event release, said, “Technology, trade, and investment are inextricably linked in a digital economy.”
In a recent Forbes China Rich List, Jack Ma emerged as the richest entrepreneur in China for the second time in 2019.
Between 2018 and 2019, he has grown his wealth from $34.6 billion to $38.2, despite stepping down as the Chairman of the renowned Alibaba Group.
According to Alibaba Group, Jack Ma will be speaking at the digital economy summit in Abuja and hold a panel discussion with other guests.
Earlier before the event, he met with Nigeria's Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, in Abuja. According to a report by Channels Television, Jack Ma said he is ready to invest in Nigeria through his "Four Es” programme - E-infrastructure, Entrepreneurship, E-government, and Education.
It is not yet clear if Ma will visit tech entrepreneurs or tour tech hubs while in the country, like the Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, who left Nigeria a few days ago.
In 2017, Ma visited Kenya and Rwanda and discussed investment opportunities in the East African nations. In 2018, he returned to Africa and launched the Netpreneur Prize, a $10 million competition for African tech innovators, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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