Shettima embarks on 2-day visit to Sweden

The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, will depart Abuja for Sweden on a 2-day visit to represent Nigeria in bilateral engagements with the Scandinavian nation. At the instance of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Vice President, during the working visit, will engage in high-level bilateral talks with key government officials, including a meeting with Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and the Swedish Prime Minister. Senator Shettima will use the visit to explore opportunities for strengthened collaboration between Nigeria and Sweden in areas such as ICT, innovation, education, digitalisation, sustainable transport, mining, and agriculture. He will also meet with key stakeholders in both the Government and Private Sector. The Vice President will also meet with Norrsken, a Stockholm-based venture capital impact investor, which recently launched Norrsken22, a USD 205 million tech investment fund for Africa. Norrsken22 is a technology growth fund, backed by over 30 prominent unicorn founders, partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs building Africa’s next tech giants. The meeting with Norrsken will provide insights into how Nigerian entrepreneurs can benefit from this fund and further strengthen the technology ecosystem in Nigeria. Notably, 40% of the investments from Norrsken22 are expected to be allocated to Nigerian technology entrepreneurs. Twelve (12) Nigerian private sector companies that are doing business with Sweden are going independently as a private sector bloc. While in Sweden, VP Shettima is also expected to articulate Nigeria’s economic vision and the reforms being undertaken by the administration to create a business-friendly environment in Nigeria for investors. The myriad of opportunities that abound in Africa’s largest economy will also be showcased. The Vice President is expected back in the country on Saturday.

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Beckham attends Eriksson’s funeral in Sweden

The funeral of Sven-Göran Eriksson, the first foreign manager to coach the England national team, was held on Friday in the small Swedish town of Torsby where he grew up before embarking on an illustrious career at the pinnacle of European football. A soft-spoken but determined coach, Eriksson guided teams in Sweden, Portugal and Italy, winning major trophies in the 1980s and 1990s before taking on the England job in 2001, managing stars such as David Beckham, who was among the attendees at the service. Eriksson announced in January that he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer and spent much of the following months reconnecting with many of the places and people central to his career before he died last month. He fulfilled his dream of managing Liverpool, after leading the club in a charity legends game against Ajax at Anfield in March. The funeral took place in Torsby, a rural town of less than 5,000 people near the border with Norway, and was attended by several hundred people inside the church. Some 200 seats in the neo-Gothic church from 1898 were reserved for his family, friends and players from his career in the football world, according to his agent. The remaining seats were open for the public, according to Eriksson’s wish Others followed the service on a big screen set up outside and the funeral was given blanket coverage by Swedish media. The wooden coffin was wheeled in by pallbearers at the church Friday morning. Next to the casket was a photo of Eriksson on a small table. The floral wreaths included ones sent by FIFA and Lazio, the Italian team that Eriksson led to the Serie A title in 2000. Others attending the funeral included the Swedish coach’s longtime partner Nancy Dell’Olio. Tributes flowed in from prime ministers, clubs and former players following the news of his death while national teams including England and Sweden played with black arm bands during the the September international break. Eriksson, known in Sweden simply as “Svennis,” led England to the 2002 and 2006 World Cup quarterfinals, and to the 2004 European Championship, managing a golden generation of players that besides Beckham included stars such as Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard. He began building his international reputation when he guided Swedish club IFK Gothenburg to the UEFA Cup in 1982 and went on to win silverware as coach of Portugal’s Benfica and Italian clubs Roma, Fiorentina, Lazio and Sampdoria. Unable to end England’s trophy drought, he left the helm of the national side in 2006, going on to coach Manchester City and Leicester City as well as Mexico and Ivory Coast and clubs in China and Philippines.

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