The African Business Roundtable (ABR) has inaugurated Mr Samuel Dossou-Aworet as the new president of the group. Mr Dossou-Aworet took over from Alhaji Bamanga Tukur at the Presidential Handover Ceremony and dinner at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja. The former president was applauded for his dedication and contribution to ABR and the private sector development in Africa.
The occasion was well attended by representatives from Africa Development Bank (AfDB), the Nigerian presidency, ambassadors of Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Senegal, Germany, Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Angola and South Africa. Dossou-Aworet is also the President of Petrolin Group, the Pan Africa Oil and Gas Exploration Company. As the former ABR vice president, he was unanimously elected as president and chairman of the board in September 2017.
The new president, whom Tukur described as “a passionate crusader for good governance, an advocate for regional integration and a very successful business personality” had a very successful career in the public and private sector. The roundtable also made far reaching resolutions that would expand the frontiers of private African businesses in anticipation of an increasing stable political climate. Mr Ebrima Faal, Senior Director, Nigeria for AfDB, representing the President of the Bank, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, in his keynote address highlighted the historical ties between the Bank and ABR, which it helped to set up in 1990.
He further noted that ‘ABR was Africa’s foremost and continent-wide association of businesses and business leaders, and truly a successful Pan-African institution’. He stated that the Bank would work closely with the public and private sector to unlock new sources of growth for Africa. Faal stressed the need to reduce inequality between countries working together to unlock the enormous potential of African economies and deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals for Africa. The ABR held a minute silence in the memory of late Dr. Babacar Ndiaye, a former President of the AfDB and founder of the ABR, who passed on last year.
