Conference Africa is now big business

Selling inspiration
There are other events meant to inspire. The TED brand, which is all about ‘ideas which are worth spreading’ held its global annual TED meeting in Arusha in 2008. It has a number of international offshoots called TEDx. This year some 40 such offshoots are planned for Africa and the London-based TEDx Euston organises an Africa-themed event each year.

A TED day is a mixture of inspiring talks (lasting 18 minutes each – long enough to tell a story, and short enough to retain audience attention) music and arts. The $6,000 price tag to attend seems to be worth it, given that its global gathering is often oversubscribed and the hottest ticket in town.

Inspired by WEF, TED and a number of initiatives, the most interesting and most fun event on the African calendar must be the Africa Leadership Network – the brainchild of Acha Leke and Fred Swaniker, who represent the new breed of young,  talented and forward looking Africans.

The founders wanted to create a network of dynamic and like-minded people under the age of 45, and through these networks share ideas and create a platform for these ideas to breed and be realised. Leke, a director at McKinsey, the international consultancy, is known for measuring impact and results, and this is evident in how the event is run. It is a mixture of discussions, workshops, business pitches, social gatherings to enhance bonding between members of the network, and a healthy serving of culture, music and dancing.

At the latest gathering, when the issue of angel investors and seed capital was raised as an impediment to driving entrepreneurship in Africa, a fund was created. Among the key discussants were Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the outspoken Nigerian author, Manu Chandaria, the Kenyan industrialist, and Hannah Tetteh, one of Ghana’s leading lights and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The network pushes hard for an equal representation of women and men, as well as a balance from private and public sector and a cross section of industries. The founders were keen to stress the sustainability of the network as key to its future progress. It is run as a not-for-profit organisation and the meeting is said to cost $1m, with half of the costs covered by the participants and by sponsorship.

Another date in the calendar, which attracts key business and political personalities and what has been dubbed African Civil Society Week, revolves around the Mo Ibrahim Governance weekend. A number of organisations now hold their meetings around this weekend, which takes place each time in a different African capital around November.

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation, named after its founder, every year holds a series of events, including a concert, focusing on a specific theme.

Asian interest
Further away, in Asia, Africa is also clearly on the radar. Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul are all looking at Africa with interest, unsure as to how to counter the march China is making into the continent. Their boards of trade and investment are all launching Africa Investment Forums at home, trying to sell their expertise and know-how to Africans and also trying to develop ties with potential business partners. With Africans increasingly looking to Asia as a model for economic growth and wealth creation, these types of forums and conferences will only grow.

With 200,000 Africans leaving Africa every year to study abroad, Africa is also making its mark at some of the world’s leading universities. The Harvard Business School Africa Day, which takes place every year in February, attracts over 1,000 participants. The London School of Economics this year will hold its first Africa Day in April. The London Business School, Wharton, Oxford, Cambridge, NY University have all got firmly established Africa Days, where delegates discuss African issues with an eye on unearthing opportunities to go back home and work.

You can debate whether or not Africa is rising; but one thing’s for sure: everyone’s talking Africa.