MIT Sloan Presents Africa Innovate Conference: Celebrating Success, Addressing Challenges

March 1, 2013 - PRLog -- On Friday March 15 through Saturday March 16, MIT Sloan will host its third annual Africa Business Conference (http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate) (ABC) at the MIT media Lab located at 75 Amherst Street in Cambridge, MA.  

Over the past few years, Africa has quickly become one of the most notable emerging markets and optimal destinations for foreign investment opportunities.  The impact of the economic upturn on the continent is already being documented in several areas, including the mobile technology, telecommunications, urban development, energy and banking sectors.  

Despite these exciting turn of events, Africa continues to grapple with issues that may impact its economic vitality and potential to be the leading destination for direct foreign investment opportunities, issues such as corruption and lack of transparency in various revenue generating sectors, to name a few.  It is for this reason that the theme of the ABC 2013 conference, entitled “Africa Innovate: Celebrating Successes and Addressing Challenges” brings together business leaders, economic intellectuals, scholars and entrepreneurs around the world to share their thoughts on Africa’s achievements, as well as obstacles that still need to be overcome.  

The conference will kick off on the evening of March 15 with an Africa Investment Forum (http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate/investm...) that will bring together Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) leaders to discuss infrastructure investments and trade flows in Africa as well as innovation and entrepreneurship for SME development in Africa.  

On Saturday March 16, between 8am and 6:30pm, the conference will feature panels (http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate/panel/) on Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, Venture and Growth Capital, Food and Agriculture, and Entertainment, Media and Technology and include keynote addresses from four powerful leaders in Africa: 1. Hakeem Belo-Osagie, Chairman Etisalat Nigeria, 2. Makhtar Diop, VP World Bank Africa, 3. Njeri Rionge, CEO Ignite Consulting and Investments and, 4. Kayode Akinkugbe, Managing Director First Bank Nigeria Capital.  

Also on Saturday March 16, the conference will present “Vision Talks®”, a set of declarative speeches from Africa-focused entrepreneurs and business leaders, and the Africa Solutions Business Plan Competition (http://sloanafrica.scripts.mit.edu/africainnovate/events/), a platform where individuals pitch an original and scalable idea that solves an important problem in Africa.

Tickets to the forum are limited and available online (http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5199202956?ref=ebtnebregn). For more information about the forum tweet (https://twitter.com/MITSloanABC) MIT Sloan Africa or connect via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/mitafrica).