Written by Pascal Fletcher | From Reuters

Delegates to the World Economic Forum on Africa next week in the Nigerian capital Abuja will be in the right place to reflect on the rising continent’s problems, as well as its undoubted potential.

Participants, including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and African leaders, meet as the continent’s largest economy grapples with a surging Islamist revolt and inter-communal clashes that highlight poverty, ethnic and religious schisms, and battles over power and resources in many parts of Africa.

“If people want to take a look at a dynamic, high-potential place in Africa, Nigeria is that place, but it also has a whole host of issues that are not going away anytime soon,” said Mark Shroeder, head of Sub-Saharan Africa analysis at business and security consultancy STATFOR.

Policymakers, entrepreneurs and philanthropists attending the 24th World Economic Forum on Africa (WEFA), a replica of the flagship annual WEF held in Davos, Switzerland, will be ensconced in the concrete fortress of the Abuja Hilton, protected by 6,000 police and soldiers – the largest security operation Nigeria has ever mounted for a summit.

An April 14 bomb blast on Abuja’s outskirts, which killed at least 75 people and was claimed by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram, triggered the big security shield for an event which is normally the setting for convivial and relaxed discussions.

The Hilton’s air-conditioned marble interior may also not drown out the desperate public appeals of parents of some 200 teenage schoolgirls snatched by suspected Boko Haram militants from a northeast school in a mass abduction last month.

The incident has shocked Nigeria, triggered protests in Abuja and embarrassed President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, showing up the military’s inability to contain a ruthless anti-government insurgency whose targets also include Christian churches and civilians of all races and creeds.

Read more at Reuters