The 2017 Business for Africa forum has kicked off in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
This year’s programme which is themed “Directing Investments to Inclusive Growth,” will attract about 8 Heads of State and Government, including President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi of Egypt, President of Guinea and current chair of the African Union, Alpha Condé, President Idriss Déby Itno of Chad, President Alassane Dramane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire, President Azali Assoumani of Comoros, and President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed of Somalia among others.
Some of the most important business leaders expected to speak at the event include Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, Nigerian banker Tony Elumelu, and Nigerian cement tycoon Abdulsamad Rabiu.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (L) and Rwandan President President Paul Kagame (R) leave after attending a conference on ‘driving African Entrepreneurship’ during the Africa 2017 Forum in Sharm el-Sheikh on December 7, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI (Photo credit should read KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/Getty Images)
Now in its second year, the 2017 Business for Africa forum is a platform for business owners to nurture new partnerships and meet investors. The forum will provide business owners with an opportunity to engage with African political leaders and policy makers on new ideas to improve business environment across the continent. There will also be a series of events for entrepreneurs to pitch their businesses to investors from within and outside Africa. More than 1,500 delegates from more than 40 countries are expected to attend the event.
The event is organized by Egypt’s Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation and by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Regional Investment Agency (RIA). “The intra-regional trade is a valuable component of the economic growth strategy of Africa and Egypt,” said the Egypt’s minister of Investments, Sahar Nasr, in a press statement.
The Africa 2017 Business Forum will under the high patronage of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi on 7th to 9th December 2017 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, and is organized by the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation of Egypt and the COMESA Regional Investment Agency (RIA).