AfDB launches Africa CEO Forum
The Africa CEO Forum (ACF) has officially been launched.
Mr Tim Turner, private sector operations Director at the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Amir Ben Yahmed, Vice President of Groupe Jeune Afrique and executive producer of the Forum launched it at the just-ended Annual Meetings of the AfDB in Arusha, Tanzania.
The Africa CEO Forum is the first international conference dedicated to top African companies, and breaks the mould of typical sector-focused events and run-of-the-mill academic forums.
The CEO Forum will hold its first meeting in Geneva from November 20-21, 2012. Officials say it will bring together entrepreneurs, investors, financial decision-makers, and policy-makers to promote the success of the African private sector, providing a platform for public-private dialogue and high-level strategic solutions to support the development of companies and their African markets.
Several heads of Africa’s most prominent companies have already confirmed their attendance. Among them are Aliko Dangote, CEO of Nigeria’s largest industrial conglomerate, Jean-Louis Billon, president of Sifca, Cote d’Ivoire’s biggest private employer, Issad Rebrad, CEO of Cevital, Terrab Mostafa, CEO of the Moroccan company OCP, the world’s major phosphates exporter, and Mark Cutifani, who heads South African mining group, AngloGold Ashanti.
Other major international company chiefs who have announced their attendance at the Geneva meeting include Tidjane Thiam, CEO of top British insurance group, Prudential, and Sunny Verghese, CEO of Olam, the agribusiness multinational based in Singapore.
Mr Tim Turner said the Africa CEO Forum fits perfectly into the AfDB’s mission, which is to foster an environment conducive to business and private sector development for the transformation and a more inclusive growth of the African economy.
By Ekow Quandzie