Nigeria has officially committed to participate in Expo 2020 to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nigeria joins over 150 other countries that have confirmed their participation in Expo 2020 Dubai. Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Lesotho, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Togo have already confirmed their participation in Expo 2020. The UAE which is hosting the event wants Expo 2020 to serve Africa’s interests and provide a platform for connections to be made by, and for, its African partners whether they be government, business or visitors. Emirates Airline, Dubai based currently serves 27 destinations in Africa, including five cargo points.   Africa is the future of global economic growth. While other continents saw slow to negative growth in their economies Africa countries economies were growing at double digit level. So African participation in Expo 2020 is seen as an important element for the success of the mega event. Nigeria has the highest population in Africa and is a traditional trade partner for UAE with non-oil trade between the two countries amounting to $1.3 billion in 2016. Almost all the African nations will pade tiesrticipate in Dubai’s Expo 2020 as bilateral relations between the UAE and African countries are growing economically. “As director general of Expo 2020, I have no doubt to say that the Expo will offer an opportunity to take our relationships (with Africa) to new heights. Our Expo visitors are expected to be primarily international coming from all over the world – including Africa. Almost all African nations have confirmed their participation and we are working closely with them to curate and programme exhibitions that are meaningful to contribute at all levels,” said Reem Ibrahim Al Hashimi, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director-General of Expo 2020 Dubai. Over the last five years, Dubai Chamber has opened representative offices in Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique and Kenya to assist UAE companies that want to expand their footprint on the continent and also to attract African businesses to Dubai. Mohammed Dansanta Rimi, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the UAE delivered a letter to Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee confirming Nigeria’s participation in Expo 2020.   “People and innovation are at the heart of World Expos, which is why we are delighted to welcome Nigeria as the latest country to formally announce its participation at Expo 2020 Dubai,” Sheikh Ahmed said. “Expo 2020 will be the first World Expo to be held in the developing world, and will be for the developing world, so we look forward to working with Nigeria and other confirmed African countries on our journey to 2020,” he added. Mohammed Dansanta Rimi, Ambassador of Nigeria to the UAE said: “We want to show the world how we are working to improve the lives of our youth and people, while opening up our economy and encouraging foreign investment – and Expo will be the ideal platform for us to do so.” Expo 2020 Dubai will be held between October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021 and is expected to draw 25 million visitors.