The Internet Business Council for Africa (IBCA) participates at the
EU-Africa 2014 Business Forum in Brussels Internet Business Council for Africa  
                                Calls for Entrepreneurs and ICT
in Africa's Business Agenda 
 
 
Press Release
Brussels, Belgium, 04 April 2014:   The Internet Business Council for Africa (IBCA) delegates attended the EU-Africa 2014 Business Forum today at a crucial time in the relations between Europe and Africa.

Africa's growth is attracting global interest, notably from an industrialization and ICT perspective. Europe and Africa have genuine interest in increasing bilateral trade, investment and market integration in mutually beneficial relations, to boost strong sustainable growth and create jobs. However, a common challenge for both Africa and Europe remains the consolidation of sustainable economic growth, in particular to ensure that this growth is inclusive in creating jobs, improving public-private partnership and business climate, and enhancing the development of SMEs.
 
The 2014 EU-Africa forum brought together more than 60 EU and African leaders, and a total of 90 delegations.The forum thus provided a unique opportunity for African and European companies to network and exchange views on EU-Africa business and investment relations.

The landmark forum was attended by the EU Commission Vice-President, Antonio Tajani, together with Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and Commissioner Karel de Gucht. Other high profile leaders included AUC Chair, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Jos� Manuel Barroso, President of European Commission, who  inaugurated  the forum with Key note speeches.
 
Sophia Bekele with Rebecca Enonchong, CEO of AppsTech at the
EU-Africa meeting 
The forum  offered a high level platform for the private sector to meet political leaders from Europe and Africa. Private sector is taken as the driver of most of the high level investments in Africa especially in telecommunications and ICT, manufacturing and agriculture.
Sophia Bekele, the President and Founder of DotConnectAfrica and IBCA commented saying "I am an entrepreneur and entrepreneurs are the future of Africa and should be empowered to work on innovation in the ICT sector for agriculture and in order to minimize government interference which does not motivate entrepreneurs, we need to work with Banks by educating and building capacity for them in this area, so as they can provide loans for farmers as well as support financing for the innovations required."  She added "we need to make agriculture a very cool thing for young entrepreneurs to embrace", agreeing with Rebecca Enonchong of AppsTech, who was Co-Chair of the meeting.
 
Delivering his opening speech, Jos� Manuel Dur�o Barroso the President of the European Commission said that "I believe this is increasingly true all across Africa: a serious focus on stability and good governance - even in a sometimes difficult context - leading to a renewed and realistic optimism among investors, large and small......The private sector has indeed a large role to play and that is what binds this Business Forum with the European Union - Africa Summit later this week."

  Also on PR Log:  prlog.org/12303543 

 
About IBCA
 

The Internet Business Council for Africa (IBCA) is an initiative which DotConnectAfrica Trust introduced  in 2012.   It aims to be at the forefront of strengthening and facilitating the commercial relationship between the the Developed nations and the African continent.    

 

The principal objective of the IBCA is to promote the involvement and participation of the African private/non-governmental sector (and the global private sector involved in Africa) in the global ICT &  Internet Community, and also provide an avenue for them to participate in global Internet Governance.  The IBCA will closely work with governments, multilateral groups and business to improve the African continent's internet, trade and investment climate, and to raise the profile of Africa in the developed nations

 

The Internet Business Council for Africa (IBCA) believe that Africa's future success depends upon the ability of its entrepreneurs and business people to create and retain wealth through private public partnerships. Private corporations and individuals can contribute most effectively by building partnership and reaching out to the African private sector using the best known Modern Management and consultative mechanisms.

 

Participation in IBCA will follow the existing multi-stakeholder model promoted by the global internet community where every participant/stakeholder has a voice, and policy development is consensus-based.
Press Contact: Thomas Kamanzi, Newsletter Editor tkamanzi@dotconnectafrica.org
Internet Business Council for Africa (IBCA): http://theibca.org