Let's Meet Africa
and Do Business
OAVM visits Harvard Business School
Marc Habets during the Gala inner at the ABC Convention in the Sheraton in Boston
10th time the African Business Convention at HBS Harvard Business School
These are impressive numbers for the oldest university of the United States: 100th anniversary of the business school and the 10th version of the African Business Convention. Over a thousand people visited this year the usefull convention about doing business in Africa. A lot of African diaspora, alumni and business people were present. The theme for this year was "controlling our destiny: celebrating Africa's success". This theme was logically because of the developement of Africa as a whole during the last 10 years. The convention was organized by students from the HBS, ofcourse with some help of important financial sponsors.
Opening and workshops
The official opening of the convention was done by Fred Swaniker, the founder of the 'Leadership Academy" in South Africa. From all over Africa students alreadt signed up to star
t studying at this new facility in Honeydew South Africa in September. After the opening it was time for the first workshops with names as: Private Equity: Financing Africa's Succesful Enterprises, Educational reform: Closing the Skill Gap, Case Study Discussion: What's driving Africa's growth?, FIFA 2010: South Africa and the World Cup, Microfinance 2.0: The next frontier of growth, Africa Capital Markets: The final frontier, Aviation & Tourism - A viable platform for growth , Infrastructure & Successful Privatisation, Venture Capital: Spurring Entrepeneurship with venture captial and Women in control.
After lunch there was a plenary interview with Irene Charnley, former Non-Executive Director: MTN; Non-Executive Director: FirstRand Bank; Director: Johnnic; Director: Johnnic Communications. (left
of Marc Habets on Picture).
In the afternoon there where some panel sessions about topics like: Africa's next generation: How will we define our contribution, Entrepeneurship: The expanding spectrum of possibilities, Governance in Africa: the foundation for success en information technology & software.
The convention ended with a well organized Gala dinner including a concert from Angelique Kidjo from Benin.
Networking
THe convention was an excellent opportunity to extend networks with African and American businesses and colleaques and have the chance to get involved in discussions about leadership en entrepeneurship in Africa. As communiy builder OAVM contributed on its own way to the convention and the development of entrepeneurial Africa. OAVM was asked to participate again next year and involve more companies from Europe and the KLM Club Africa community.
