NEW YORK, NY, USA  —

The Pan-African Council is grateful to UNICEF in New York for allowing to host the second edition of the US-Africa Trade & Investment Forum on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly this week.

For this edition of the Forum, the Council has partnered with the Foreign Investment Network (FIN), a United Kingdom-based company has been a key driver of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for Africa and other developing economies over the past 20 years. FIN is a consultant in Oil and Gas, agriculture, telecommunications, metallurgical & engineering industries, infrastructure, and maritime for financing, project assessment, and risk analysis.

With a keynote from President of Guinea-Bissau, H.E. Umaro Sissoco Embaló, the event consisted of high-level B2B and B2G roundtable discussions, networking functions, and deal breakout sessions with investors to unlock financing opportunities and strengthen US-Africa trade and investment. Participants will connect with high-level African government delegations, senior U.S. government officials, CEOs, and senior executives of U.S. and African companies.

Keynote Speaker

• President of Guinea-Bissau, H.E. Umaro Sissoco Embaló

Sponsoring Organizations

• UNICEF
• Pan-African Council
• FIN Magazine

The Forum aims to supercharge Afro-Colombian businesses and create a community of Black business professionals from Colombia and beyond.

SANTIAGO DE CALI, COLOMBIA  —

This coming Friday and Saturday January 13-14, 2023, the Pan-African Council will be co-hosting the Afro-Colombian Executive Forum in collaboration with Howard University School of Business and the Universidad Santiago de Cali in Colombia. ⁣

The Forum is an intensive program designed to develop the participants’ core business skills and provide them with the tools to succeed. This will be achieved through modules focused on the following topics:

• Historical and present context of building community wealth
• Business preparedness
• Discussion tables
• Leadership, human talent and branding
• Financial forecasting
• Networking and on-going engagement

In addition to job creation and new economic opportunities, entrepreneurship and enterprise development are essential drivers of community transformation that encourage innovation and a culture of success. We look forward to empowering the Afro-Colombian business community by creating new partnerships across the Council’s global network.⁣

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA  —

Chief Economist of the Pan-African Council, Osa Aihie, speaks to CNBC Africa host and award-winning financial journalist Fifi Peters on SAfm Market Update with Moneyweb regarding US-Africa relations and the outlook on trade and investment on the African continent.

Click here to listen to the episode.

The Forum aims to create a strong sustainable connection between African governments and African-American/Diaspora entrepreneurs and investors throughout the United States
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WASHINGTON D.C., USA —

The Pan-African Council will host the 2022 US-Africa Trade and Investment Forum (ATIF2022), scheduled to take place at the Kellogg Conference Hotel in Washington D.C., from December 14 to 16, 2022.

ATIF2022 will be held on the margins of the US-Africa Leaders Summit under the theme “Unlocking African Markets for Trade and Development”. The Forum aims to foster the development of strategic partnerships between the business communities in Africa and the United States with a special focus on the African diaspora, to bolster bilateral cooperation and increase engagement in trade, investment, technology, innovation, tourism, culture, and other sectors.

The event will consist of high-level B2B and B2G roundtable discussions, networking functions, and deal breakout sessions with investors to unlock financing opportunities and strengthen US-Africa trade and investment. Participants will connect with high-level African government delegations, senior U.S. government officials, CEOs, and senior executives of U.S. and African companies. Moreover, attendees will have the opportunity to engage with representatives from key agencies and discover the resources and tools to facilitate business investing in Africa.

On behalf of the public sector, His Excellency Vice President of the Republic of The Gambia, Badara Joof, will keynote the Forum and discuss how governments across the region are incentivizing key opportunities for investors, businesses, and entrepreneurs. Private sector panelist Joseph Hampanda, Managing Partner at Africa Equity Group, an Africa-focused fund and investment management firm, affirmed that “Africa’s trade and investment outlook is unmatched and the Forum couldn’t come at a better time. As the fastest growing continent in the world with the youngest population, now is the time to increase trade and investment in Africa”.

ATIF2022 is also expected to contribute to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) from the perspective of further integrating Africa’s vast and diverse global diaspora. Panelists will discuss making effective use of the Diaspora’s capital, talent, and resources to ensure economic prosperity and inclusion, as well as leveraging entrepreneurship and investment as a catalyst for economic development.

Chairman of the Pan-African Council, Mr Fabien Anthony, highlighted, “After four centuries, the call for Africa and her Diaspora to join forces has never been greater, and so the Forum must be embraced as a historic moment to broaden cooperation and drive the increased flow of investments, know-how, products and services between our regions”.

In addition to the Council, ATIF2022 is co-managed by Afri Business Circle, Bulle Consulting, and the Global Advances Group. As part of their commitment to the Forum’s success, each respective stakeholder has pledged to sign long-term cooperation agreements with participating governments to promote strategic trade and investment initiatives.

Intending participants, including potential sponsors, can register for ATIF 2022 by visiting the event website at https://www.africatradeforum2022.com.

The event is also listed on the US State Department’s official US-Africa Leaders Summit event website.

For further information, email media@panafricancouncil.org.

Africa and the Caribbean unite to build a common future.

BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS — This past September 1-3, 2022, prominent business, political and cultural leaders from across Africa and the Caribbean gathered in Barbados for the inaugural AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum (ACTIF2022), a meeting initiated by Afreximbank, Export Barbados, and Invest Barbados with the support of the African Union, the AfCFTA Secretariat, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Caribbean Export Development Agency, the Africa Business Council, and the International Trade Centre.

The Pan-African Council joined a number of sponsors supporting the Forum’s central theme: “One People. One Destiny. Uniting and Reimagining Our Future”. The event boasted more than 1500 delegates from 90 countries of the world, including government officials, development partners, trade support institutions, investors and private sector leaders from both regions. On that account, ACTIF2022 aimed to help strengthen relations between the private sectors of the two regions to advance trade and investment.

The Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, set the tone of the Forum by delivering a gripping keynote address to an enthusiastic crowd highlighting that “Africa has been separated from the Caribbean region, not only by the Atlantic Ocean, but by centuries of few interactions, despite our shared common descent and history. Barbados, at this time, looks to Africa in pursuit of new relationships and partners with the aim of deepening engagement and cooperation with like-minded nations both bilaterally and multilaterally”.

She insisted that although African and Caribbean peoples have worked together for more than a century in the various Pan-African congresses, our political union, though essential were not sufficient “for the journey that must be made to reverse the underdevelopment of Africa and the underdevelopment of the Caribbean”. In the spirit of South-South cooperation – a concept and practice of cooperation and solidarity among regions of the global south historically disadvantaged by the world system – the Forum stressed the importance of deeper economic ties in order to fortify.

Topping the day’s agenda at ACTIF2022 are the business-to-business engagements and panel discussions on several topics, including:

• promoting trade and tourism while improving air links between the regions;
• accelerating industrialisation and manufacturing;
• developing special economic zones (SEZs) and industrial parks;
• improving infrastructure, financing and trade logistics, including regional integration;
• cooperating on health, climate change, and the energy transition;
• fomenting the conditions to accelerate private sector investment; and
• improving food security, agricultural productivity, and expanding agribusiness opportunities.

H.E. Professor Benedict Oramah, Afreximbank President and Chairman of the Board, pointed out that “both regions must forge a common front to harness several opportunities available, including the $27 trillion dollar North American markets”. Simultaneously, Secretary General of CARICOM, Dr. Carla Barnett, highlighted that the potential to do business with Africa was “tremendous” considering that the market represented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTFA) was set to reach US $6.7 trillion in value by 2035.

Fully capitalising on these prospects will entail clear objectives and targets, namely: mobilising the required resources and capabilities; establishing appropriate frameworks, institutions, and business processes; strengthening and streamlining infrastructure such as air and maritime distribution and transportation channels; mobilising all relevant stakeholders including the vast pool of bi-continental and Diaspora talent; and continuously identifying opportunities and creating awareness.

Accordingly, the strong linkages between Africa and the Caribbean based on a shared history, culture, concerns, and common sense of identity underpin the political and individual will for cooperation to fulfil the promises of the Forum. This natural congruence between the two regions have set a new bar in the battle for a more just and sustainable international social and economic order.

As a first step towards this new era of cooperation, ACTIF2022 will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the most historic events to inspire a new sense of hope, purpose, and dynamism among Caribbean and African peoples.

Pan-African Council Ambassador Norbert Haguma contributes to the African Continental Free Trade Area (#AfCFTA) discussions and recommendations at the African Union in Dakar, Senegal

Pan-African Council Ambassadors attend the 2018 Presidential South African Investment Conference (@sainvestmentco) to explore investment opportunities in the manufacturing and tourism sectors in South Africa.

The gathering brought together South African and international delegates to explore the many investment opportunities in one of Africa’s most diverse and advanced economies as it enters a new era of inclusive and sustainable growth.