More than 1,200 decision-makers from more than 60 countries are expected to debate the theme of African Champions Powering Competitiveness at the African CEO forum in March. According to a release distributed by African Media Agency about 1,200 key figures and decision-makers from industry, finance and politics across 60 countries will converge at the sixth edition of the African CEO Forum holding in March in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. It is the world’s largest gathering of the African private sector operators.
With its chosen theme, “African Champions: Powering Competitiveness”, the AFRICA CEO FORUM 2018 aims to enable participants to formulate action plans for the transformation of the continent’s large companies. The African private sector has developed strongly over the past two decades, most recently showing its capacity to resist a period of economic slowdown. But the number and size of leading companies remains small when measured against other emerging regions.
While economic recovery takes shape, the unprecedented technological disruption that is occurring all over the world can be a tool for African champions to grow ever faster, to increase their competitively, and to challenge their counterparts at a global level. Despite the risks they pose to industry in terms of job creation, these digital revolutions also enable acceleration on a new scale in several fields: financial inclusion, logistics, access to health and education, agricultural competitively and innovation among them.
Providing the business climate continues to improve and investment to strengthen, this large-scale evolution will also result in a new generation of dynamic African companies.
Through 20 sessions organised by sector and region, case studies by top CEOs, success stories, strategic workshops, and themed task forces (on female leadership and young CEOs), the 2018 edition of the AFRICA CEO FORUM sets out to open the perspective on a new era for the private sector, and to make the next 10 years of growth a decade of entrepreneurial transformation in Africa. Among the key speakers to lead the debate are Alassane Ouattara, president of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire; Philippe Le Houérou, CEO of the International Finance Corporation; Jim Ovia, Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank; Tedros Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation; Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever; Claudio Descalzi, CEO of ENI and Naguib Sawiris, executive president of OTMT.
Others are Benedict Oramah, president of Afreximbank; Kuseni Dlamini, chairman of Massmart; Mohamed El Kettani, CEO of Attijariwafa Bank; Diego Aponte, CEO of MSC; Geoffrey Qhena, CEO of IDC; Zouhaïr Bennani, CEO of Label’Vie; Janine Kacou Diagou, Managing Director of the NSIA Group; Yolanda Cuba, CEO of Vodafone Ghana; Junior Ngulube, CEO of Sanlam; and Issad Rebrab, Chairman of the Board of Cévital.
Also attending are Abderrahmane Benhamadi, CEO of Condor; Alassane Doumbia, CEO of SIFCA; Bruno Mettling, Deputy CEO in charge of Africa and the Middle East, Orange; Patrick Akorli, CEO of Ghana Oil Company; Austin Avuru, CEO of Seplat Petroleum; Joshua Oigara, CEO of Kenya Commercial Bank Group; Vuyani Jarana, CEO of South African Airways; Oluwatoyin Sanni, CEO of United Capital; and Tonye Cole, CEO of Sahara Group.
