Starting and running a business successfully in Africa needs a marketable idea, a great deal of effort, strategies, innovation, and links to the right market, partners, and marketers.
However, a thriving business is possible in most African countries.
Current Situation
Amidst the current stiff competition in business spaces, investment summits, roundtables, and other exposure panels are the genius stroke if you want to place your business not only onto the ears of the target consumers, partners and financiers but also onto their minds.
That is why Prof Robinah Nanyunja, alongside other partners, decided to host the Trans-Africa Investment Summit on October 26 to 29, 2022.
Prof Nanyunja is a Ugandan Entrepreneur, President and Chair Pilot International, Honorary Professor University of Oxford, First Vice President African Greens Federation, President of the Women Economic Forum Africa (Uganda), and the Vice President East African Community (EAC) World Economic Forum For Asia-Africa.
The event will be hosted in Kampala City, Uganda.
“As an entrepreneur, being known is one thing but being known by the right people through strategic placement of your business idea is a quite different thing,” says Prof. Nanyunja.
For the third consecutive year, in 2021, Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) ranked Botswana (38.5%), Uganda (38.4%), and Ghana (37.2%) as having the most women business owners and entrepreneurs globally.
With producers battling against an ever-increasing lack of both local and international markets for their products, the event is set to address competitiveness, infrastructure, labor skills and access to capital, and openness for business opportunities, to place your business on the world table.
“These markets will not find you in your comfort zone, office, outlets or house. Efforts to reach out and connect are vital,” she urges investors and business creatives and conceptualists.
It will be inclined toward the theme of Exploring Investment Opportunities in Africa. It is set to bridge the gaps currently lurking in the business spheres, such as lack of financing, wrong strategies and flexibly adapting to the current local and global markets.
Target, Organizers and Purpose
Being one of its kind in the current era, the Trans Africa Investment summit seeks to bring together high-level executives, Chief Executive Officers, Managers, leaders of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), investors, the business community, government agencies, exporters and importers from various economic sectors across Africa and the globe.
The organizing partners of the summit include Pilot International, Women Economic Forum, G100 Club of Global Women leaders, and All Ladies League, all of which are corporate institutions with business networks from Uganda, Africa and the world over.
Being a business entity, The Scholar Media Africa has partnered with Pilot International and Women Economic Forum Uganda Chapter. With Entrepreneurship being one of its topical issues, The Scholar has been key in offering publicity to the event and such others by spreading the word to prospective investors.
It seeks to magnify voices and efforts directed to promote businesses on the African Continent.
The summit aims to facilitate trade amongst African countries and the world by providing a physical networking platform for participants to interface with their potential clients and partners and to attract investment opportunities for business growth across Africa.
It will also link investors and investment projects that need support to scale up to attract investment opportunities and development support for business growth across Africa.
Simultaneously, it will be an undoubtedly best platform to showcase African products and services to increase visibility and consumption for social-economic development and integration.
It will achieve this through physical and virtual platforms, which will see diverse investors, financiers, business partners, and world business leaders share what they do, promote themselves and also seek more assistance in terms of marketing, financing or partnerships.
Keynote Speakers
Rebecca Kadaga will officially open the summit.
She is serving as the First Deputy Prime Minister of Uganda and Minister of The East African Community (EAC), Uganda.
Other keynote speakers will be:
Dr. Harbeen Arora, Founder and Global Chairperson, Women Economic Forum (WEF), G100 and WICCI, India.
Ms. Bodil Valero, Global Chair G100 Security and Defense and Former Member of European Parliament, Sweden.
There will also be general speakers and exhibitors, and the whole event will be closed by an awards ceremony.
According to their website, Women Economic Forum (WEF), which is the main convener and partner of the upcoming Trans Africa Investment Summit, is the largest universal gathering of women entrepreneurs and leaders worldwide.
It is also an associate of All Ladies League (ALL), which is the largest all-inclusive international women’s assembly and movement addressing the well-being, wealth and welfare of all business-women globally.
“The overall expectation is that the summit will foster cross-border trade by connecting women, the youth and all participants to new market, investment and funding opportunities in order to expand their client-base by tapping into the segmented pockets of SMES existing across the continent,” says the host, Prof Nanyunja.
Order of Events
October 26, 2022, will be a day of arrival & checking in of International participants and in the evening hours, setting up of the Exhibition Place and Conference Halls, as well as delivery of Exhibits, will be done.
On October 27, 2022, welcome notes and key speeches will be delivered by handpicked Ugandan business and investment leaders and other top-notch investors from across the globe.
On 28th, General Entrepreneurs will showcase their projects and what they do, and there will be an Investors Forum where diverse business presentations and ideas will be presented, and the presenters will seek what would benefit them from the business partners and other investors.
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This may involve financial boosting, advice, provision of branding materials and mutual-benefit business partnerships.
On 29th, those following virtually will showcase their ideas, businesses and what they do and interact with those in physical attendance.
On the evening of the same day, an optional closing dinner and an awards ceremony will take place. Different categories of investors, speakers, and partners in the business world will be awarded for their efforts in making the world a better place for investment.
On the 30th, the participants will have a roundtable post-summit meeting chaired by Prof Nanyunja, with the assistance of other members from the organizing panel.
The meeting will see the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between different business entities, organizations and other businesses and individual investors, producers, suppliers, exporters and importers, among other key business drivers in the market.
This practical part will be the culmination of the event by providing real agreements and solutions to the issues of interest, which will have been addressed within the previous days.
“Africa cannot work in isolation on matters investment and business,” notes Prof Nanyunja, adding that the whole world will be represented and while most of the attendees are from Africa, Europe, Asia and the United States will also be represented, both virtually and physically.
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Revealing that so far, 60% of the registered participants are drawn from women entrepreneurs, she encourages more women to register and be part of the event. In Africa, over 30 countries are registered member-states of the Women Economic Forum. Here is the Final Programme.
On the issue of unemployment and shaky businesses in Africa, she advises that “All the gaps in the business space provide an opportunity for anyone to start something and build it.”
