Sierra Leone Telegraph: 27 July 2021:
The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) 13th U.S.-Africa Business Summit starts today via teleconferencing, and ends on 29 July. The Summit is CCA’s flagship conference that is considered essential for those doing business on the continent as well as the U.S. and African leaders shaping U.S.-Africa economic engagement.
The theme of this year’s Summit is “New Pathways to a Stronger U.S.-Africa Economic Partnership” and will focus on the unique opportunity for the new U.S. Administration and its African partners to reset and redefine their relationship, working together to shape the path for economic recovery needed as a result of the COVID pandemic.
The Summit is hosting African Heads of State and key ministers, USG Cabinet and senior officials, and more than 1,000 private sector executives and stakeholders from across the United States and the African continent.
The Summit opening plenary will be a high-level dialogue between H.E. Filipe Nyusi, President of the Republic of Mozambique, and SADC Chairman, H.E. Pravind Jugnauth, Prime Minister of the Republic of Mauritius, the Hon. Gina Raimondo, Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Al F. Kelly, Jr. Chairman and CEO, Visa. Over the Summit’s three days, participants will hear from other African leaders, including H.E. Felix Tshisekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and AU Chairman, H.E. Mokgweetsi Masisi, President of the Republic of Botswana, H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Republic of Kenya, H.E. Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, and H.E. Prof. Oluyemi Osinbajo, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
African Ministers of trade, energy, agriculture, investment, ICT, and infrastructure from across the continent will participate in the Summit, and will engage the audience on sector and country specific issues.
In addition to Commerce Secretary Raimondo, U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai, Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Hon. John Kerry, U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power, and U.S. International Development Finance Corporation Chief Operating Officer David Marchick are among the U.S. Cabinet officials, agency heads, and other senior executives from the Biden-Harris Administration who will participate in the Summit. And White House Senior Director for Africa Dana Banks will be making an exciting announcement on the next chapter of the U.S. Prosper Africa initiative.
The Summit is known as the premier business event bringing together captains of industry from the United States and Africa. Among the more than 500 CEOs and senior private sector executives at this year’s Summit, will include the Visa Chairman and CEO Al F. Kelly, Jr.; Bruce Cleaver, CEO, DeBeers Group; William Killeen, CEO, Acrow Bridge; Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO, Ethiopian Airlines; Karan Bhatia, Vice President, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Google; Angela Hwang, President, Biopharmaceutical Group, Pfizer; Admassu Tadesse, President, and CEO, Trade and Development Bank; Bassem Bibi, Divisional Vice President, Middle East, Africa, and Global Accounts IDEM/ARDX, Abbott; Vilo Trska, Senior Vice President for Sub-Sahara Africa, Procter & Gamble; Olugbenga Agboola, Founder & CEO, Flutterwave; and Akin Dawodu, Head, Sub-Saharan Africa Cluster, Citi.
This year’s Summit is specifically designed to facilitate and elevate business-to-business and business-to-government engagement, and provide a platform for U.S. and African business and government leaders to engage on key sectors including agribusiness, energy, health, infrastructure, ICT, finance, and more.
The Summit’s nearly 1500 private sector and government decision makers registered to date will be able to network, meet potential business partners and explore new business opportunities.
CCA’s U.S.-Africa Business Summit is regarded as one of the essential conferences on doing business and investing in Africa. The virtual event will address today’s most important challenges to investors in Africa by facilitating high-level roundtables, sector-focused discussions, as well as breakout sessions, and three country-focused sessions on doing business in Botswana, Angola, and Liberia.
Much has happened since the last U.S.-Africa Business Summit held in Maputo, Mozambique in 2019. As countries and companies look to recover from the health and economic impacts of the COVID pandemic, 2021 presents a special time and opportunity to relaunch and even redefine the commitment to developing and, more importantly, implementing business-friendly initiatives and policies that foster a stronger U.S.-Africa economic partnership.
The 2021 U.S.-Africa Business Summit is proudly sponsored by leading global businesses and organizations including Abbott, Acrow Bridge, All Africa Global Media, Caterpillar, Chevron, Citi, Computer Frontiers Inc., Covington & Burling, Creative Associates International, Development Finance International (DFI), Inc., ExxonMobil Corporation, Fayus Inc., Flour Mills of Nigeria PLC, Flutterwave Inc., General William, and Joyce Ward, Gilead Sciences, Google, Jean Boulle Group, Jeune Afrique, Pfizer Inc., Prosper Africa, P&G, Rabin Martin, Sun Africa, Trade and Development Bank, Visa, and Vulcan.
To find out more about the 13th U.S.-Africa Business Summit on July 27 – 29, visit www.USAfricaBizSummit.com.
Learn more about Corporate Council on Africa at www.CorporateCouncilonAfrica.com
Anyway I am so sorry to say this, I don’t care what President Bio does for this country until he exits that state house one day, some people will never appreciate it. Guys are making the President becoming more popular than ever, people know how to criticize Bio and his administration but they are not considering better development for their country as long as Bio is the president, that’s totally wrong. These are some of the reasons I personally sympathize with Bio. In the other article where the US gov’t signed 17 millions agreement with Sierra Leone to build an electricity plant in our beloved country Mama Sa/Lone, you can see there is not much debate or comment. Why? because I guess, SLPP Bio is in power. Lets assume that All peoples congress(APC) was in power, then, this won’t take our country forward. I can see it myself that when even some Sierra Leoneans are praising Rwanda’s head of state H.E. President Paul Kagame, yes of course because they love and respect him enough. I hope none of us can ignore or forget the 1994 genocide what happened to that country. They have learnt their lessons but Sierra Leone has not.
Folks, I want you to know that President Bio will never ask for more time after his second term is over, neither become self appointed party life chairman, but some rumors going on secretly within the country my friends. I don’t care if Bio instructs the Chinese to build the” LUNGI” bridge with gold and diamond, the enemies must criticize him some how. Because if his routine schedule did not permit him to participate in this very important summit, hope he will participate another important one coming. I can understand its hard to forgive but let’s forgive him on this okay. This country is too little for disunity. Why is the US powerful? because they are United behind one another. You think that everybody loves President “Joe Biden” even within his party? no, but everyone unites behind him for their country though they have their differences. But the problem for APC is, they don’t want to be called opposition.
This is what Mr Brima Sesay said “The enemies must criticize him somehow “. Thank you very much Mr Brima Sesay for your insight. Only silly people would like to be seen as enemies of President Bio. At the start of his presidency, I was one of the First to support President Bio. He started very well. No doubt about that. The most important for me was when he invited members of the opposition to State House for political reset to unite the country, but was short lived. President Bio was in a better position to unite our country than any of his predecessors for many reasons. I will keep those reasons for campaign purposes. All of a sudden, that changed to barbarity against the APC headquarters, attacking and “teargazing” Chief Sam Sumana on the Streets of Port Loko, attacking and nearly breaking the arm of Dr Kandeh Yumkella on the streets of Kasserie by police and thugs. Remember that White SUV with someone inside pointing an assault rifle at the APC headquarters?
These kinds of scenarios are very bad for the country. The other problem was the way the COI was going and the behaviour of the ACC. Only the weakest links were culprits. Since then, I decided to withdraw my support. President Bio bears the full responsibility for such actions because he is President. That’s why a president must have disciplined and responsible people around him.
Most people see opposition to president Bio as enemies. That is not true. Some of us see ourselves as adversaries to president Bio because we want to defeat him and not to destroy him. Very nice to defeat President Bio at the ballot box. Let me say it again, I pray that president remains safe and healthy till the next elections. I will congratulate him if wins. If he loses, I will try to work with his supporters and himself for peaceful a peaceful and prosperous country. He should do in kind if he wins or loses. God bless Sierra Leone and Mr Brima Sesay.
Hashim, well yes this is is the conference Bio should be taking part in. But you know how our leaders do things upside down or in reverse. Let us also don’t forget that it’s a virtual conference, not involving hiring a private jet and claiming excessive travelling expenses, which the nation has to bear. Bio came under withering criticism recently over his escapades around the world on unproductive and flimsy excuses – principally that he was trying to attract foreign investment. Upon realising that the nation had caught up with his tricks of claiming massive par diem for his foreign travels, he seems to have adjusted his tactics, only travelling to attend physical conferences. He now uses such occasions to recoup all financial loses caused by less travelling.
But there is another element we must consider . Maada Bio knows that any conference featuring President Paul Kagame of Rwanda is of the class to which he does not belong. Paul Kagame is working wonders in Rwanda; his ambition is to make his country the Singapore of Africa – a first world nation. Bio has trouble supporting Her Excellency, Her Worship, Honourable Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyer to clean the streets of Freetown, preferring instead to undermine her at every turn. Thank you Hashim for your simple but powerful question.
Well, is this not the meeting President Bio should be attending?
The United States – Africa leaders was first held in Washington DC, by then former President Barack Obama on the 4th and 6th of August 2014 . Out of the 54 existing nations, 50 of their leaders were invited to the summit. The Motto of the gathering of the great, and not so great of African leadership, with their American counter parts was: To invest in the next generation. Now one has to ask the urgent questions, despite all our history and ties with our American partners, what happened in the past? According to president Obama, a half Kenyan on his Father’s side who was interviewed at the time by The Economist about his sudden interest in Africa, in which he replied, his motive to launch this cooperation with Africa after America’s pivoting to the Asia Pacific region, was to encourage more foreign direct investment to the continent. “The more the merrier” he said.
And with those words you get the feeling the United States was trying to play a catch up game with China, the new sheriff in the African continent . In deed as America is abandoned the most recent African Continent, and moved to the Pacific region, China was taken a different route, or the back route to the African continent . As of that year total US investment to the continent was $85 billion dollars. A tiny amount compared to China that until that time was out pacing US investments into the continent by $200 billions dollars worth of China’s foreign direct investment to the continent . And still is. And this wooing of African leadership to a summit was started by former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, in Beijing from 10th to 12 October 2000.It took our American partners 14years to realise the Chinese government have thrown the gauntlet at them. And the race is on.
Now our American partners are doing everything to win back their African allies. If it means even throwing kitchen sink at it, so be it.
Here we go again – Years ago the words they chanted were; ” Moving Africa Forward” Yet, she still remains far behind others wallowing in the mud of abject poverty; Now times have changed and the tunes of the predatory birds of the West has also changed; Now its called the (Prosper Africa Initiative; the next chapter.) Hahahaha. The next chapter? The last chapter that was introduce as a strategy for reducing poverty in Africa was a total failure because it was intricately tied up with the devious strings of sky high interests loans that crippled failing ailing economies instead of strengthen them.
Someone, anyone tell me aside from the USA’s questionable attempts to promote Democracy in Africa and the Middle East what have they actually done that is credibly and sustainably enhancing the living standards of our abjectly poor people? But Stargazer there are people who would argue that Africans are not abjectly poor. Fine! let them continue to live in denial; Tell them to take a trip to the slums of Lagos, Freetown, Conakry and Mombasa just to name a few and then come back and talk to me with eyes full and overflowing with tears of sorrow; G0 and witness with your naked eyes and then come back on this glorious forum and talk to me – Come back and tell us all the sad stories that your sore eyes have grievously seen.(lol)