Fashola to speak at CCA infrastructure conference in Johannesburg

23 Oct 2018
Financial Nigeria

Summary

The conference will introduce innovative solutions in a range of sectors, including ICT, energy, transportation, health and finance to African government and private sector actors. 

Nigerian Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola

Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, is among high-level speakers at the upcoming 8th U.S.-Africa Infrastructure Conference taking place on November 5-6 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Organised by Washington DC-based Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), the leading United States business association focused on connecting business interests in Africa, the conference is themed, "Innovation: The key to new platforms and technologies for Africa’s 21st century infrastructure."

The CCA is a non-profit, membership-based organisation promoting business and investment between the U.S. and the nations of Africa. It has more than 180 organisation-members across 20 key sectors, including agribusiness, energy, infrastructure, security, power, healthcare, telecommunications and finance.

According to a statement by the CCA released on Monday, the conference will introduce innovative solutions in a range of sectors, including ICT, energy, transportation, health and finance to African government and private sector actors and offer insights on novel approaches that infrastructure leaders have implemented to make ambitious projects a reality.

The African Development Bank (AfDB), in its 2018 Africa Economic Outlook, estimated that the continent needs about $130 billion annually over the next decade for its infrastructural development.

The conference will also feature an exhibition centre for businesses to display current and successful projects. According to the statement, attendees will connect with U.S. and African business decision-makers; identify new business partners and investors; obtain real-time business and investment leads that can result in sales and contracts; and gain access to key U.S. and African government officials and decision-makers driving infrastructure investment on the continent.

Other speakers lined up for the conference include Vuyani Jarana, CEO of South African Airways; Florizelle Liser, CEO of CCA; and Admassu Tadesse, CEO of Trade and Development Bank.

Others are Sola David-Borha, Chief Executive of Africa Regions at Standard Bank; Farid Fezoua, Chief Executive, Sustainable Healthcare Solution – Africa, General Electric; Jacob Flewelling, Africa Business Development Manager at U.S. Trade and Development Agency; and Neil Gordon, CEO of Global Agricultural Exchange.

Registration for the conference will close on October 27. The sponsors of the conference include Acrow Bridge, AllAfrica Global Media, Barloworld Namibia, Caterpillar Inc., Chevron Corporation, Citi, Covington and Burling LLP, Global Agricultural Exchange, Lockheed Martin and South African Airways.

Established in 1993 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the CCA members include the smallest and largest American corporations, contributing about 85 percent of the total U.S. private sector investment in Africa.

One of its programmes, the U.S.-Africa Business Centre (USABC), is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, and focuses on increasing two-way trade between the U.S. and Sub-Saharan African economies, including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.


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