Canada to host The Commonwealth Africa Forum in July

Senior Government and Business Leaders from Africa and North America are expected to gather in Toronto from the 5^th – 8^th July 2018 for The Commonwealth Africa Forum Toronto 2018 with the theme: Africa – Open for Business.

Past Speakers at  CAFI EVENTS have included: HRH Prince Andrew The Duke of York, Gen. Yakubu Gowon (Former Nigerian Head of State); Rt Hon Baleka Mbete (Speaker of the Parliament of South Africa), Chief Olusegun Obasanjo (Former President of Nigeria), H.E John Dramani Mahama (Former President of Ghana).

Others have were Amina J Mohammed (UN Deputy Secretary General) represented by H.E Bience Gawanas (UN Under Secretary for Africa), H.E Mrs Toyin Saraki (Wife of the Senate President of Nigeria), Dr. Hassan Ahmed Hilal (Minister of Environment Sudan), Chief Mrs Folorunso Alakija (Vice Chair – Famfa Oil and Richest Black Woman), and more.

The Commonwealth Africa Forum is a premier event for those curious and excited about Africa. It is an excellent opportunity to learn about the challenges and opportunities on the continent.

The Canadian edition of The Africa Forum is conceived as a high level thematic business-related event with the vision that Canada and Africa must move beyond donor/recipient relationship towards long-term cooperation based on principles of ownership, partnership and solidarity.

“Africa is a continent of paradox. It has buckets of possibility and investment opportunity, and it is well on the path to achieving that full potential however if still faces a multitude of challenges”, says Adonis Abboud, Member of the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth Africa Initiative.

Convening over 250 delegates and a number of high profile speakers, the Canada Forum will offer unrivalled insight into business on the continent from the boldest innovators and decision makers in Africa. A gala dinner is expected to close the Forum which will focus on Doing Business in Africa, with the theme: Africa, Open for Business.

Three of the five fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa. Africa has 300+ tech hubs in 93 cities across 42 countries. Increased internet penetration, mass urbanization and growth in smartphone adoption, combined with rapid population growth, and has made Africa extremely attractive to investors.

Africa is the continent of the future – being home to the world’s youngest population. In 20 years, the number of sub-Saharan Africans reaching working age (15-64) will exceed that of the rest of the world combined. By 2040, less than 25 years from now, half of the world’s youth will be African or of African descent.

“It is in light of this that the Forum will feature a High Level Youth Dialogue with participation from Young leaders from across Africa and North America. Conversations at the Youth Forum will consider how Diaspora and African Youths can collaborate to help Africa fulfil the aspirations of the AU Agenda 2063 and the SDGs” says Napoleon Jay, Co-Chair of the Local Organising Committee.

The Forum will bring together African and North American business leaders representing multi-nationals, large corporations, small and medium-scale enterprises and confederations, civil society representatives and multilateral and regional institutions to discuss how to improve the business and investment climate between Africa, Canada and North America at large.

TAF Canada will also be an opportunity to showcase that Canada is also open for business and investment and the forum will showcase Canadian opportunities to African investors. In the words of Prime Minister Trudeau at the World Economic Forum “We have a diverse and creative population, outstanding education and health care systems, and advanced infrastructure, we have social stability, financial stability and a government willing to invest in the future”.

The event is being organised by the Commonwealth Africa Initiative (CAFI) in association with Common Cause Africa Canada, YTI Canada, APO Group, Piety Inc, Pan African Diplomacy Center and other organisations.