What does a model have in common with a media mogul with a basket weaver with a president of the IFC?
This weekend the Wharton Africa Business forum was held on campus. In a year when most of the world’s economies are struggling to stay afloat in the face of the financial crisis, Africa too has faced its share of challenges. Despite this, the message that resonated through out the conference was that of the great opportunities that lie untapped in the continent.
Giving the morning key note address, Thierry Tanoh, underscored the abundance of opportunity on the continent with the revelation that in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country with a population 60 million, only 200,000 bank accounts were held in the country. Mr. Tanoh is Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe for the Global Manufacturing Industry Cluster at the IFC.
This year’s forum included a variety and rich mixture of panels. As in years past, panels on traditional focus areas of business such as capital markets and private equity were in the mix of panels. However, this year, panels also included areas of growth in the African business arena that have not traditionally received much attention. In the "African Women in Business Panel" Louisa Mojela, founder of the first all women’s investment fund in Africa, WIPHOLD, asserted that the challenges faced by women in business in Africa is not unique to the continent. She emphasized the importance of women supporting one another- saying that when you lift up one woman "you have gone 3 stairs up"
Anna Getaneh, former model of Ethopian ancestery, was also on the panel. Having recently launched a new coutoure African fashion line, African Mosaique, she also spoke of the challenges she had to overcome as a former model and a woman looking to launch an enterprise. She was not taken seriously both because of her desire to launch an Africa inspired design label and because of her lack of experience managing a business. Nevertheless, she pushed ahead, launching the design label first on the African continent to allow it time grow and to test the markets for the viability of the line. She plans to expand the line globally in coming years.
The panel was moderated by CNN correspondent Lola Ogunnaike, whose brother is a Wharton alumnus of the class of 2007.
Another intriguing aspect of the Forum was the Panel on the Brain Gain (vs the Brain Drain) emphasizing the contributions Africans abroad can make in their countries upon returning with their skill set. Zemedenen Negatu, an Ethiopian native and MD at Ernst & Young, stressed some of the incentives being put in place by African governments to attract their citizens to return to their home countries. Kunbi Oguneye, Head of Strategy at Nigeria’s Oceanic Bank, on the other hand stressed that Nigeria has not been a leader in this area and should do more to incentivize its populace to return to the country and contribute to it with their knowledge and experience.
Along this same line of Africans abroad returning to help build up their home countries, speaking with Thierry Thano following his keynote address, he emphasized that both the talents of Africans abroad and those local on the continent would be needed to push and develop the continent. Africans abroad can provide their global knowledge and exposure, while those who have been on the continent can add their local expertise of the countries.
The forum concluded with a banquet in which Muhammed (Mo) Ibrahim, pioneer of the cell phone industry in Africa, was honored with a philanthropic award. Dr. Ibrahim through his foundation has created the world's largest monetary award- a 5.5 million dollar award- named the African governance award and given to an African head of state who has made extraordinary strides in the governance of his/her country. In past years, the award has been given to Nelson Mandela, Joaquin Chissano of Mozambique, and Festus Mogae of Botswana.
Closing off the night with an emotional speech was the WABF 2009 Visionary award recipient, Janet Nkubana. Her story is one deserving of an article of its own. Ms. Nkubana began life as a child in a refugee camp. However, inspired by the desire to help women who had been devastated by the Rwandan genocide, she founded a basket weaving business to help these women generate a basic source of income. That company has grown to what is today Gahaya Links whose products are sold in the US through Macy’s.
Speaking of her experience helping women who had lost all hope following the war in Rwanda, she received a standing ovation.
Wharton’s community of African alumni was also in strong showing at the Forum. Several, including Eric Kacou ‘WG04, founder and Managing Director of the OTF Group, and Lisa Lambie ‘WG98, Managing Director at Cordiant Capital, were participants in panels. In addition, the weekend was used to mark the official launch of Wharton’s African Alumni Network.
This year’s conference was remarkable because of the depth and breadth of business in Africa that it exposed. Whether model, media mogul, basket weaver, or IFC president, all were in agreement that opportunities for growth and business development abound throughout Africa.