07/22/2015
Int’l Business Summit
Africa has been identified as the next big thing with a steadily growing middle –class and exponential growth rates. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 7 of the top 10 most rapidly expanding markets-an investor’s dream.
Since 2000, African economic growth rates have been 5-6% per year. The continent’s trade value with the U.S. has tripled to $23 billion over the past decade supporting over 100,000 U.S. jobs and described as next major economic story by Obama. More than 50 million American workers are employed by companies that engage in international trade Increase in the rate of America’s exports to Africa
Rationale:
Despite the many opportunities in Africa, Africa has yet to fully understand and exploit the opportunities within.
Many African business owners lack the skill or capital to jump start and advance their businesses
President Obama’s Doing Business in Africa Initiative
To understand and interpret the needs and capacities of African Businesses,
Industries, Services and Technologies
Unified framework and collaboration models to ensure America and Africa to grow and prosper mutually in the global market and world trade organizations (WTO).
A consent-based workshop information sharing and exchange is critical for strengthening relations between the USA and Africa and opening up avenues for international development between both continents.
Design
Workshop, Panel, Social Marketplace
Contents
Participants will hear from Industry Executives, Academia, Business Leaders and Government Officials to share and exchange experience and lessons learned in the following topics of interest:
International Trade
Public and Private sector partnership
What opportunities between America and Africa-OPEC,AGOA etc.,
Networking and Gain Access to Valuable Resources, Customers and Strategic partners
Identify challenges facing Small and Medium Scale Enterprises(SMEs)
Facilitate mutual partnership between Governments and Private Sectors
Entrepreneurship, Business and Leadership Practices
Standards, Codes, Obligation, Regulatory and Environment
How to become a Technology Driven Nation
Participants
Mid-level and Senior Business Executives from Africa and the US
Government Officials from Africa and the US
Expected Outputs and Outcomes
Enhanced business knowledge and opportunities within the United States and Africa
Visibility, Networking, Information sharing with key players in the Industry
Key challenges inhibiting private and Public sector participation identified
Identification of grey areas and partnerships for investment
opportunities and funding identified
Promotion of public private partnership
Creation of alliance between workshop participants and secretariat
Monitoring and Evaluation Mechanism designed
Why Participate?
Visibility and access to a diverse, lucrative group of industry professionals and stakeholders.
Capacity building for your business/organization.
Generate alliance building opportunities with industry heavyweights, government departments and subject matter experts from within the USA and Africa throughout the workshop.
One-on-One Networking session to enhance information sharing and business exchanges
Creation of an alumni institute between vendors, sponsors participants to facilitate information sharing and strategic alliances between relevant stakeholders.
Why the New York platform?
Business should not be limited to the localities of initial formation. With the growing concept of a “global community,” there is much opportunity for growth in other places and spaces. Connecting with businesses overseas can take your business to unimaginable heights once exposed to platforms conducive to the formation of new and prosperous partnerships.
New York City’s enormous, thriving and diversified economy presents tremendous opportunities for companies from other countries and is well known as the international business capital of the United States. More foreign companies have operations in NYC than in any other city in the U.S. This is due to the fact that New York has everything necessary to succeed in a global economy: access to expansive markets, a diverse and talented workforce, business partners, support services, and professional associations.
It is also home to the world’s largest diplomatic community, including the United Nations, 193permanent missions, 114 consulates, 75 trade commissions, and almost 2,000 foreign companies. Attending the Afro Expo to be held in New York will expose your business to partnerships in various industry verticals.
Additionally, as the result of quality investments in public transportation, cultural amenities, education, public safety and sustainable energy production, New York surpassed London, Paris and Tokyo as the city with the most global clout and is continuously working to improve its offering to maintain a position as a city with the most competitive edge. New York City boasts 164 academic institutions with a student population of 623,000, which alludes to wealth of knowledge to improve business operations, as well as an increasing pool of future employees, respectively. Your business will also benefit from access to the various governmental offices within the city, which provide resources to assist with the success of your business ventures away from home.
After supporting your business throughout the week, New York is also a place that offers many leisure activities to enjoy in the evening and over the weekend. If your fancy is the arts, there are impeccable Museums, theaters on Broadway and Off-Broadway, Comedy Shows, and Music Concerts. The city is full of attractions including famous tourist destinations (i.e. Statue of Liberty, the Empire Building, Madison Square Garden, the Barclays Center, Coney Island Theme Park, Times Square, etc), Restaurants, Sports Events, Beaches, Parks, Botanical Gardens, Zoos and more
