8 January 2024 – Davos, Switzerland. Africa Collective, in partnership with the AfCFTA Secretariat, will kick off a series of activities during the time of the World Economic Forum, taking place from 15-19 January in Davos. The objective of the Africa Collective Davos agenda is to provide a complementary platform that creates even more space for discussion of African topics and themes, exploring the opportunities for driving economic growth on the African continent.
The series of activities will include thematic engagement sessions – on commodities, health and capital investments: Beginning on Monday, 15 January, with a welcome luncheon & roundtable dedicated to the topic ‘Paving the Way: Commodity-led Industrialization on the African Continent; followed by a breakfast roundtable in partnership with Novartis entitled ‘Moving the needle: From health ‘spend’ to healthcare as an investment’ on Tuesday, 16 January; and finally, a breakfast roundtable themed ‘Unleashing potential: Africa’s place in attracting future allocation of capital pools’ in partnership with Standard Bank Group on Wednesday, 17 January.
Further possibilities to network and exchange during the Africa Collective program will include the Digital & Art Showcase Networking Cocktail on the evening of Tuesday, 16 January and the initiative’s week-long, dedicated Networking Area in the lobby of the Hard Rock Hotel,which will allow partners and guests to engage on key African topics during the week. At both the Networking Cocktail and dedicated Networking Area, the artwork of four talented African artists, Eno Bassey (Nigeria), Elie Hatungimana (Rwanda), Sanjo Lawal (Nigeria) and Kwaku Opoku (Ghana), will be displayed and featured in partnership with leading African art media platform, Art News Africa.
The yearly High-Level Closing Luncheon on Thursday, 18 January will wrap-up the Africa Collective Davos 2024 agenda, examining the theme ‘Navigating Business Realities for Scalable African Solutions’. High-level panelists during the session will include: H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary General, AfCFTA Secretariat; Nonkululeko Nyembezi, Chairman, Standard Bank Group; and Lutz Hegemann, President – Global Health & Sustainability, Novartis. The Luncheon will bring together 80 key African and global decision makers to discuss the outcomes of sessions held during the Davos week as well as outlook for 2024.
Throughout the week, African and global leaders in business, government as well as further thought leaders will be contributing to the on-invitation Africa Collective sessions and conversations. Partners of the initiative will also play an important part in shaping the discussion during the Davos week including: Lead Partners Novartis and Standard Bank; Corporate Partners Old Mutual, Ringier AG and Tristar; Supporting Partners OmniBiz and Fin. To inform the broader African and global business community, Media Partners Business Insider Africa, CNBC Africa and African Business will be reporting on topics relevant to the African continent in Davos and covered during the Africa Collective events.
More information:
About Africa Collective
Africa Collective was launched in 2023, as a business-driven initiative, to discover, exchange about and collaborate on African opportunities globally. Co-initiators of the initiative include H.E. Wamkele Mene (AfCFTA Secretariat), Larry Madowo (CNN), Biola Alabi (Acasia Group), Michael Rheinegger (Africa Unlimited) and Leonard Stiegeler (Africa Unlimited).
On 19 January 2023, the Africa Collective held its inaugural luncheon at the time of the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting where it brought together African Ministerial Delegations, CEOs and senior executives representing leading international as well as pan-African companies. Early backers of the initiative include Ian Williamson, CEO, Old Mutual and Marc Walder, CEO, Ringier AG.
To read more about the 2023 Africa Collective presence in Davos visit the following LINK.
About the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
The AfCFTA is the world’s largest free trade area bringing together the 55 countries of the African Union (AU) and eight (8) Regional Economic Communities (RECs). The overall mandate of the AfCFTA is to create a single continental market with a population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of approximately US$ 3.4 trillion. The AfCFTA is one of the flagship projects of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, the African Union’s long-term development strategy for transforming the continent into a global powerhouse.
The AfCFTA Secretariat coordinates and facilitates the implementation of the AfCFTA agreement among African states. It also engages stakeholders to promote the AfCFTA and undertakes trade and investment promotion activities to enhance intra-African trade, among other duties.
