Nigeria opened an international economic summit on Monday to discuss Africas investment opportunities abroad and the growth of the private sector.

The Leon H. Sullivan Summit, which is being held from July17-20 in Abuja will be attended by African political leaders and special guests such as former U.S. President Bill Clinton and World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz.

The opportunities are there for you to tap ... a new era is dawning in Africa, Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in her opening remarks, according to Business in Africa. Emphasizing the continent’s potential, she invited the attendants to invest.

Twelve leaders from Africa and the Caribbean, including Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo and those of Liberia, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Gambia would attend.

Clinton, who visited Abuja during his presidency, will deliver speech where he is expected to focus on Africa’s growing role in the world economy. Wolfowitz will be the keynote luncheon speaker.

The Leon H. Sullivan summit brings together world political and business leaders, delegates representing national and international civil and multilateral organizations, and members of academic institutions to focus attention and resources on Africa's economic and social development.

The three main aim of the meeting include expanding the private sector, building more economic infrastructure and transferring technologies to African nations.

The summit was named after Leon H. Sullivan, an African American who worked on the international humanitarian stage and was ordained as a Baptist minister. He died in 2001.

The Leon H. Sullivan Summit, which is being held from July17-20 will be attended by African political leaders and special guests such as former U.S. President Bill Clinton and World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz.

The opportunities are there for you to tap ... a new era is dawning in Africa, Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in her opening remarks to the seventh Leon H. Sullivan summit in Abuja, according to Business in Africa. Emphasizing the continent’s potential, she invited the attendants to invest.

Twelve leaders from Africa and the Caribbean, including Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo and those of Liberia, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Gambia would attend.

Clinton, who visited Abuja during his presidency, will deliver speech where he is expected to focus on Africa’s growing role in the world economy. Wolfowitz will be the keynote luncheon speaker.

The Leon H. Sullivan summit brings together world political and business leaders, delegates representing national and international civil and multilateral organizations, and members of academic institutions to focus attention and resources on Africa's economic and social development.

The three main aim of the meeting include expanding the private sector, building more economic infrastructure and transferring technologies to African nations.

Leon H. Sullivan, an African American humanitarian, worked with Africa in the 1970s after becoming the first African American board member of General Motors Corp.

The last Sullivan summit was also held in Nigeria in 2003 and was led by U.S President George Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.