PROGRAMME

Tuesday, November 17th

09.30 Welcome Address

H.E. Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry ____________________________________________________________________________ 09.40 Opening Keynote Address

H.E. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy, UAE ____________________________________________________________________________ 09.50 The Big Picture – Is Africa Ready to Drive Global Growth?

Perspectives on the potential of Africa to accelerate to double-digit growth, overcome the challenges of poverty and energise the sluggish world economy tend to be polarised. While some still see huge opportunity ahead, others point to falling growth rates and stagnating productivity. Is Africa still rising? Or is it already stumbling, as commodity prices fall and Chinese demand slows? Sim Tshabalala, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Bank, South Africa Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, Partner, The Abraaj Group, UAE

Moderator: Nik Gowing, International Broadcaster

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10.45 The Infrastructure of Trade - Africa and the Global Economy Boosting and diversifying global and intra-regional trade is a prerequisite for sustainable growth in Africa, but it requires a solid foundation of both hard and soft infrastructure to make it happen. In this session, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman of DP World will discuss the opportunities and challenges in creating this infrastructure. H.E. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman, DP World, UAE Moderator: Eithne Treanor, Managing Director, E Treanor Media

____________________________________________________________________________ 11.15 Networking Break ____________________________________________________________________________

11.45 Next Steps - Cementing Gains and Enabling the Future

African nations have grown fast in the past decade, driven by commodities and growing consumer demand. But they will need to keep on growing for several decades to bring widespread prosperity - and they face a global environment that is significantly less benign. In this session, we discuss what government leaders in Africa can do to facilitate long-term growth and how they can ensure financing for their strategies. H.E. Paul Kagame,President,Rwanda H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President, Somalia H.E. Mohammad I. Al Shaibani, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer, Investment Corporation of Dubai, UAE Moderator: Nik Gowing, International Broadcaster

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12.45 Networking Lunch ____________________________________________________________________________ 14.00 Pan-African Business – Becoming a Reality?

The stepping stones to a pan-African free trade zone are coming into place. The Tripartite Free Trade Agreement announced this year between COMESA, SADC and EAC has the potential to accelerate intra-regional trade and investment and the aim is to extend this to include the entire continent. Key African leaders will discuss their vision of regional integration and look at what is needed now to turn that potential into reality.

H.E. Richard Sezibera, Secretary General, East African Community Hon. Aston Kajara, State Minister of Finance for Privatisation, Uganda Moderator: Mark Eddo, Managing Director, Mark Eddo Media

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15.00 Networking Break ____________________________________________________________________________ 15.30 The Commodity Oddity – What Role in Africa’s Future?

Over the past decade, Africa attracted billions in investment into exploration and extraction of natural resources – in large part driven by high commodity prices. The drop in prices and the fall in Chinese demand has hit companies in these sectors hard and while there is still optimism about new gas and oil discoveries, there are concerns about the effect on the wider economy. In this session we will look at the role of natural resources in Africa’s future economy.

Hon. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Minister of Trade and Industry, Ghana Hon. Kerfalla Yansane, Minister of Mines and Geology, Republic of Guinea

Dr Amy Jadesimi, Managing Director, LADOL, Nigeria

Moderator: Eithne Treanor, Managing Director, E Treanor Media

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16.30 New Drivers – Leveraging Islamic Finance A quarter of the world’s Muslim population lives in Africa, so it is not surprising that countries across the continent are turning to Islamic finance as a way to support infrastructure growth as well as raise money on sovereign markets. In this session we will discuss the role of financial services in Africa’s development, and how emerging sources of funding such as Islamic finance can complement existing funding streams to help the continent meet its development goals. H.E. Hamad Buamim, President & CEO, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry Dr. Adnan Chilwan, Group Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Islamic Bank, UAE V. Shankar, Chief Executive Officer & Partner, Gateway Partners, UAE

Moderator: John Andrews, Contributing Editor, The Economist

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17.30 Networking Reception ____________________________________________________________________________

19.30 Gala Dinner ____________________________________________________________________________

Wednesday, November 18th

09.00 Yesterday and Today – In Brief The morning will commence with a summary of memorable points from the first day’s sessions – and an overview of the second day. John Andrews, Contributing Editor, The Economist

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09.10 The Innovation Leapfrog – a Conversation with Ameenah Gurib Fakim Africa is not known for ground-breaking advanced science, and blue sky research is often seen as a luxury when today’s needs cannot be met. But as the African population doubles over the next 35 years, the continent will need innovative new approaches to everything from growth to education and health. In this conversation with the President of Mauritius, an eminent biologist and world expert on biodiversity, we will discuss her plans to set up scientific think tanks and explore the potential and obstacles to creating a dynamic science base. H.E. Ameenah Gurib Fakim, President, Mauritius

Moderator: John Andrews, Contributing Editor, The Economist

____________________________________________________________________________ 09.40 New Drivers – Africa’s Future Factories

With digital technology transforming mass-market business models, African nations are unlikely to be able to take the same path to prosperity that most higher-income countries have taken, leveraging cheap labour and competitive exports before climbing up the value chain. The African Union aims for Africa to lead the new innovative industrial revolution, but manufacturing growth has been disappointing so far. What role can businesses in Africa play in this future world? And what needs to happen now to facilitate it?

Jay Ireland, President and CEO, GE Africa, USA Tarek Sultan, Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman, Agility, Kuwait Mawuena Trebarh, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Ghana

Moderator: Mark Eddo, Managing Director, Mark Eddo Media

____________________________________________________________________________ 10.40 Networking Break ____________________________________________________________________________

11.10 Filling the Skills Gap – Developing Africa’s 21st Century Workforce

If African countries are to continue to grow over the next few decades, educational institutions and the private sector will need to focus on filling the skills gap. In this session, we discuss what is needed to ensure that young Africans are capable of meeting the needs of the emerging knowledge economy and can produce innovative solutions to the continent’s challenges.

Rt. Hon. Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister, Uganda

Dr. Cheick Modibo Diarra, Former Transitional Prime Minister, Republic of Mali Anand Kapoor, Founder and Vice-Chairman, Midcom Group, UAE Moderator: Eithne Treanor, Managing Director, E Treanor Media

__________________________________________________________________________ 12.15 Networking Lunch ____________________________________________________________________________ 13.45 New Drivers – Connecting Africa

Until recently, the lack of intra-African carriers meant it was necessary to travel between African cities via Europe. The emergence of an African aviation industry has changed both reality and perceptions. In this session, Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, one of the main drivers of this change, explores the future of the industry and the impact on trade and investment. Tewolde GebreMariam, Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia Moderator: Zemedeneh Negatu, Managing Partner Ethiopia, Head of Transaction Advisory Services, EY

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14.30 The Elder and the Entrepreneur – Realising Africa’s Decade A former president and a young entrepreneur share their thoughts on the lessons of Africa’s development and discuss what is needed to make the 2020s Africa’s decade.

H.E. Joaquim Chissano, Former President, Republic of Mozambique

Sangu Delle, Chief Executive, Golden Palm Investments, Ghana

Moderator: John Andrews, Contributing Editor, The Economist ____________________________________________________________________________

15.15 Key Findings

Summing up Africa Global Business Forum 2015 John Andrews, Contributing Editor, The Economist

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15.30 End of AGBF 2015 ____________________________________________________________________________