FT Africa Summit 2017 – What Makes Africa Work: 8-9 October – Claridge’s, London

The Financial Times is holding its fourth annual Africa Summit this October at Claridge’s. Previous Summits held in London were outstanding successes that attracted over 300 senior attendees and expert speaker panels. The 2017 Summit will focus on what is working in Africa with the intention of drawing broader lessons that could benefit the whole continent. The narrative of Africa has been written by outsiders for far […]

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The Financial Times is holding its fourth annual Africa Summit this October at Claridge’s.

Previous Summits held in London were outstanding successes that attracted over 300 senior attendees and expert speaker panels. The 2017 Summit will focus on what is working in Africa with the intention of drawing broader lessons that could benefit the whole continent.

The narrative of Africa has been written by outsiders for far too long, and this year the spotlight will be on Africa telling its own stories and learning from its own complex and diverse experience.

We will look at the new models of development finance and growth investing and discuss the rising prices of commodities, focusing on how to maximize the value of the extraction industry and big gas projects. The dynamic CEO panel will return and the agenda will include a session on what Africans want with panellists from the worlds of marketing, polling and publishing.

Though the emphasis will be on open, spontaneous and free-ranging discussion, some of the themes likely to be covered include:

  • Which policies are producing fast growth in countries as diverse as Rwanda, Ivory Coast and Tanzania?
  • How has Ecowas managed to establish democratic norms across West Africa, as we saw in Gambia earlier this year?
  • How are some businesses seizing the opportunities that Africa’s youthful, fast-urbanising population presents?
  • How are cities, which will be the engines of African development, adapting to the very real challenges of explosive growth?
  • How are a whole new range of impact investors making a difference in stimulating African business and financing its entrepreneurs?
  • How are multinational businesses, either African, from outside or inside the continent, finding opportunities?

Confirmed Speakers:

             Juliet Anammah, Chief Executive Officer, Jumia

Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, Co-founder, Cassava Republic Press

Herman Chinery-Hesse, Founder, SoftTribe

Aliko Dangote, Founder, Dangote Group

Patrick Dupoux, Senior Partner, Head of Africa, The Boston Consulting Group

Helen Hai, Chief Executive Officer, China Africa Consulting Ltd

Yvonne Ike, Managing Director & Head of Sub Saharan Africa (Ex-RSA), Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Nancy Kacungira, Entrepreneur and Journalist, BBC

Moïse Katumbi, Former Governor of Katanga

Somik Lall, Chief Urban Economist, World Bank

Jabu Mabuza, Chairman, Telkom SA

Mohamed Mansour, Chairman, Mansour Group

Herman Mashaba, Executive Mayor, City of Johannesburg

Moeletsi Mbeki, Deputy Chairperson, South African Institute for African Affairs

Kingsley Moghalu, Professor of International Business, Tufts University

Godfrey “Gado” Mwampembwa, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Buni Media

Yaw Nsarkoh, Managing Director, Unilever Nigeria

Ebele Okobi, Africa Director, Facebook

Arkebe Oqubay, Senior Advisor, Government of Ethiopia

Nick O’Donohoe, CEO, CDC

Bright Simons, President, MPedigree

Sev Vettivetpillai, Managing Director, The Abraaj Group

Simon Wandke, EVP and CEO of Mining, ArcelorMittal

Adebola WilliamsRed Media Africa

For more information please visit: live.ft.com/AfricaSummit or contact: Lara Cornaro, [email protected]

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