Obasanjo To Host Kuffour, World Bank, IMF Bosses

President Olusegun Obasanjo will tomorrow host the Ghanaian President, John Kuffour, and the helmsmen of the Bretton Woods institutions, Mr. James Wolfensohn of the World Bank and the Managing Director of the IMF, Mr. Horst Kohler.

Indications, however, emerged yesterday that Mr. Wolfensohn and Mr. Kohler will not meet with leaders of the Nigerian Labour Congress during their two days official visit to the country. Both men are visiting to assess the nation\'s economy.

Releasing details of the itinerary of the visitors yesterday, spokesman of the World Bank, Mr. Obadiah Tohombelt, told Vanguard that the bosses of the two financial institutions would arrive Abuja Airport around mid-day.

Responding to a question on the focus of the trip, he said: \"While answering this question, I will be re-echoing the response of the bank\'s vice president for the African Region, Mr. Callisto Madavo who had said that during the trip, focus would be on major issues confronting Africa today. As far as a number of us are concerned, the main issue there is how can Africa catch up with the other parts of the world.\"

Also the visiting Bretton Woods officials will be discussing how to accelerate growth in a sustained manner. Discussions would also be held with Nigerian officials on how to reduce the poverty rate in Africa.

A very interesting issue about the visit is that there is now an emerging consensus in the world about the importance of putting a searchlight on poverty.