New partnerships in Africa play key role in global economy
Selorm "Papa Sel" Adadevoh, WG'07
Issue date: 12/4/06 Section: News
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On November 11, 2006, the 14th Annual Wharton Africa Business Forum (WABF) run by the Wharton African Students Assoc. (WASA), hit new heights by becoming what many believe to be the most successful conference in the 14th year history of this event. This year's forum focused on the recent trend of partnerships on the African continent and the impact these alliances are having on the global economy. The conference theme, "Africa: Building New Partnerships, Impacting the Global Economy," accurately emphasized this key message.
One may wonder what made this year's conference so different from previous year. For years the conference has differentiated itself from other competitive events primarily based on the high content quality of the various panel discussions. This year other factors also came into play. In my opinion, there were three key things responsible for the success.
First, the quality of the keynote speakers and consequently the relevance and consistency of the messages from these high profile leaders made this conference special. Not only was WABF able to attract dignitaries such as Dr. Modibo Diarra, Chairman of Microsoft Africa, Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, Chair, Circle Capital Ventures, Prof. Charles Soludo, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria and Alan Patricof, Co-founder, Apax Partners L.P as keynote speakers, but also it was able to attract the highest funding and participation ever for the conference.
Secondly, the breadth of the panel topics and the relevance to current issues in Africa was outstanding. The richness of the content saw each of the nine panels spilling over and as such several people were left with little wall space to remain standing throughout the sessions. The demand was so high that several people had to be turned away at the registration desk on the morning of the conference. All the panels were interesting but I will highlight two panels that attracted the largest audience.
The Private Equity panel titled "Finding Value in Unexpected Places: Private Equity in Africa" featured as Mr. Alan Patricof, the legendary venture capitalist and founder of APAX partners. The panel was filled with several seasoned professionals and the main line of discussion centered on recent PE deals in Africa including the 12x exit by CAPE from its MTN, Nigeria investment. Sir Alan Patricof notably chastised "those who want to sit in Washington and do Africa Private Equity" rather than go over to Africa and mingle with the local entrepreneurs. There are opportunities to be had and one must be on the ground to take full advantage of them while experiencing other breathtaking developments on the African continent.
One may wonder what made this year's conference so different from previous year. For years the conference has differentiated itself from other competitive events primarily based on the high content quality of the various panel discussions. This year other factors also came into play. In my opinion, there were three key things responsible for the success.
First, the quality of the keynote speakers and consequently the relevance and consistency of the messages from these high profile leaders made this conference special. Not only was WABF able to attract dignitaries such as Dr. Modibo Diarra, Chairman of Microsoft Africa, Dr. Mamphela Ramphele, Chair, Circle Capital Ventures, Prof. Charles Soludo, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria and Alan Patricof, Co-founder, Apax Partners L.P as keynote speakers, but also it was able to attract the highest funding and participation ever for the conference.
Secondly, the breadth of the panel topics and the relevance to current issues in Africa was outstanding. The richness of the content saw each of the nine panels spilling over and as such several people were left with little wall space to remain standing throughout the sessions. The demand was so high that several people had to be turned away at the registration desk on the morning of the conference. All the panels were interesting but I will highlight two panels that attracted the largest audience.
The Private Equity panel titled "Finding Value in Unexpected Places: Private Equity in Africa" featured as Mr. Alan Patricof, the legendary venture capitalist and founder of APAX partners. The panel was filled with several seasoned professionals and the main line of discussion centered on recent PE deals in Africa including the 12x exit by CAPE from its MTN, Nigeria investment. Sir Alan Patricof notably chastised "those who want to sit in Washington and do Africa Private Equity" rather than go over to Africa and mingle with the local entrepreneurs. There are opportunities to be had and one must be on the ground to take full advantage of them while experiencing other breathtaking developments on the African continent.
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