With the confirmation of President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and Amama Mbabazi, Prime Minister of Uganda as well as Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, as leading speakers for the 2nd Africa Global Business Forum (AGBF 2014), the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has intensified the momentum of its preparations for the forum being held on October 1 and 2 at Atlantis The Palm.
Locally, the Emirati speakers will be led by Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Emirates Airline and Group, Reem Ibrahim Al Hashemi, UAE Minister of State and Managing Director, Dubai Expo 2020, Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy and Mohammed I. Al Shaibani, Executive Director and CEO, Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD).
Other prominent speakers confirmed for the forum are Dr Donald Kaberuka, President of African Development Bank Group, Stephen Schwarzman, Chairman and CEO, Blackstone Group, Tony Fernandes, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Asia, and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Chairman, DP World.
The forum, which is organised by Dubai Chamber under the patronage of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, will serve as an ideal platform for a constructive dialogue and interactive networking sessions.
It will also create a favourable environment for exploring new business partnerships and opportunities between Africa and Dubai and the rest of the world arising from the business meetings and bilateral networking as well as the parallel dialogue sessions and panel discussions spread out over the two days of the forum.
Hamad Buamim, President & CEO, Dubai Chamber, stated that in the history of Dubai Chamber this 2nd Africa Global Business Forum will witness the largest participation by state heads and business leaders due to the forum’s important agenda which will clearly help establish strategic partnerships and a strong bilateral relationship between the business communities in Dubai and the African continent.
He further stressed that the presence of prominent business leaders and decision-makers from Africa and Dubai will enrich the forum and will serve as a fitting venue to inform African companies on how to utilise the emirate’s experience in stimulating economic renaissance in the African continent while enhancing the competitiveness of Dubai companies globally.
The President and CEO of Dubai Chamber pointed out that Dubai has become a hub for many African companies to trade with the world as he said that the number of African companies operating under Dubai Chamber membership has increased from 2,914 in 2008 to 7,906 until mid-2014, registering a growth of 171 per cent.
Dubai is offering excellent connectivity to the African continent with the world through a highly sophisticated logistics infrastructure and network of direct flights to many destinations in Africa while the emirate’s business community is seeking to enhance cooperation ties with the continent under the guidance and unconditional support of the government. All these factors combined will have a wide-reaching repercussion on bilateral economic cooperation between Dubai and Africa in the long run, Buamim added.
According to Dubai Chamber Statistics, the trade sector has the highest percentage of African companies operating in Dubai while the proportion of the important sectors include Trade (60 per cent); Construction (14.8 per cent); Logistics (8.2 per cent); Real Estate (8.1 per cent); Manufacturing (2.5 per cent); Agriculture (0.2 per cent) and Tourism and hospitality (1 per cent).
