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The African Finance Corporation (AFC) has announced that Ian Bremmer, an American political scientist, will deliver the keynote address during the upcoming AFC Live summit scheduled to hold in Abuja on May 15-16.

The Lagos-based multilateral lender said today that Bremmer – who is President and Founder of the Eurasia Group, a leading global political risk research and consulting firm – will speak alongside other notable speakers, including former Nigerian President Olusegun Obassanjo; and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Chukwuma Charles Soludo.

Other confirmed speakers for the summit, which coincides with the AFC's 10th anniversary, are: Charles Robertson, Chief Economist at Renaissance Capital; Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings; and Ana Hajduka, CEO of Africa GreenCo.

“We look forward to welcoming our honourable speakers and attendees to AFC Live, in particular Ian Bremmer as our keynote speaker, and anticipate ground-breaking discussion that goes some way to addressing Africa's pressing infrastructure needs,” said Andrew Alli, AFC CEO.

As part of his role as president of the Eurasia Group, Bremmer advises leading executives, money managers, diplomats, and heads of state. He is a prolific thought leader and author, regularly expressing his views on political issues in public speeches, television appearances, and top publications, including Time magazine, where he is the foreign affairs columnist and editor-at-large.

The two-day AFC Live summit opens on May 15th at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja. Policy makers, government representatives, legal and financial advisers and world-leading investors will be joining AFC and various heads of state, for a programme of workshops, panel discussions and high-level debates around the theme: “The Infrastructure Revolution.”

The AFC is celebrating a decade of pioneering infrastructure investment and project development, over which period it has invested about $4 billion across 30 countries.

“Africa's infrastructure gap remains colossal, requiring approximately $100 billion every year for the next decade to bridge,” Alli said. “Through hosting AFC Live we hope that together we can generate solutions that will increase deal flow and fast track commercial projects in Africa, and address the critical challenge of making projects bankable.”