2nd Annual North Africa Trade & Investment Conference

Event Review

With tremendous trade and investment opportunities currently existing in the North African market, Cairo provided the venue for Exporta's 2nd Annual North Africa Trade & Investment Conference, which took place on October 21, 2009. As the only trade and investment gathering specifically for the North African region, the conference welcomed leading experts on countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, to discuss the huge potential provided for trade and investment following various economic reforms and greater integration into the global economy.

Furthermore, minimal exposure to the global financial crisis has seen banks in the region enjoy relatively high levels of liquidity compared with the rest of the world.

Description

The event will highlight new business and trade opportunities emerging from the latest phase of market deregulation for international, regional and local investors throughout North Africa, as well as issues of liquidity, legal and regulatory bottlenecks, infrastructure development, improving supply chain processes, better cash management, risk mitigation and so on.

This gathering is the only major one of its kind for the North African region – focused on trade finance issues. Networking and learning opportunities will be second to none.

Who should attend?

• Importers/exporters
• Trade, commodity and export financiers
• Financial officers and treasurers
• Manufacturers
• Distributors
• Logistics managers
• Export credit agencies
• Multilateral institutions
• Credit and political risk insurers

Event Photos

Brochure

Programme

08.30 Registration and refreshments

09.15 Chairman’s welcome
Maninder Bhandari, Managing Director & Head of Middle East & Africa, Treasury Services, BNY Mellon

09.30 Patterns and trends in the North African market
Riccardo Fabiani, Economist, Middle East and North Africa, Country Risk Services, D&B
Angus Blair, Head of Research, Beltone Financial

• The impact of the global economic landscape on investment into the region
• The ongoing process of government deregulation and incentives for overseas investors
• New investment opportunities and where they will come from
• The impact of rising inflation on economic growth

10.30 Panel discussion: trade financing issues and challenges
Moderator: Michael Lacey, Managing Partner, Cairo, Denton Wilde Sapte
Mohsen Rashad, Head of Financial Institutions & Correspondent Banking, Arab-African International Bank
Ahmed Shaheen, General Manager, Egypt Factors
Shehzad Sharjeel, Trade Finance Specialist, Middle East & North Africa, International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Michael Kenny, Partner, Watson, Farley & Williams  

• Outlook for banking institutions within the North African market
• The legal and regulatory environment: best practice, bottlenecks and protection for loans and investment
• Supply chain solutions and processes in the North African market
• Cooperation with foreign banks from outside the region
• Multilateral responses to the global financial crisis and finance initiatives to manage resulting needs

11.30 Networking break

12.00 Panel discussion: optimising working capital and maintaining liquidity
Moderator: Soha Ali, Vice President, Relationship Manager, North Africa, BNY Mellon
Akram Tinawi, Commercial Banking Director, Barclays Bank Egypt
Asif Raza, Head of Treasury and Securities Services, MENA, J.P. Morgan
Mervat Soltan, Head of Financial Institutions & Cash Management, National Bank of Development (NBD)
David Hennah, Senior Product Manager, Swift

• Addressing cash management challenges throughout the North African region
• The impact of dematerialisation; new technologies and approaches
• Building transparent and efficient liquidity processes

13.00 Lunch

14.00 Strengthening economic cooperation between Asia and North Africa
Alessandro Bruno, Deputy Editor, The North African Journal

14.30 Investment opportunities within the market
Alaa El-Afifi,  Managing Director, Citadel Capital Algerie

• Furthering foreign direct investment from Asia markets
• Outlining the advantages of special economic zones in promoting such investment
• The influence of regional equity funds on investment patterns
• Highlighting the region's competitive advantages as an investment destination

15.15 Networking Break

15.45 Panel discussion: enhancing Asia-North Africa trade and exports
Moderator: Maninder Bhandari, Managing Director & Head of Middle East & Africa, Treasury Services, BNY Mellon
Alaa Gouda, General Manager, Export Credit Guarantee Company of Egypt (ECGE)
Ahmed El Berkawy, Region Head, International Relations, Export Development Bank of Egypt (EDBE)
Fatima Zahra Lakhbabi, Marketing Director, Maroc Export - The Moroccan Centre of Export Promotion
Dora Fiani, CEO, Coface Egypt
Anthony Richard Brown, Managing Director & Head of Asia, Treasury Services, BNY Mellon

• Effects of the global climate on Asian imports into North Africa
• Developing frameworks to enhance private sector initiatives and partnerships
• Increasing levels of exports from North Africa into Asian markets
• China-Egpyt coopertation and economic partnerships
• Opportunities within Morocco

16.45 Increases in south-south trade and investment: the challenges posed
B.O. Omarah, Executive Vice-President, Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)

• The new world order - how developing countries are bolstering south-south trade to alleviate the effects of the global economic climate
• Increasing linkage to trade finance programmes to promote south-south trade flows
• Beyond trade - how economic activity between emerging markets has reshaped the world's investment landscape

17.15 Summary and chairman’s closing remarks

17.30 Drinks reception hosted by BNY Mellon

Venue

Accommodation

Delegates are responsible for the arrangement of their own travel and accommodation. For the best available rates please contact the JW Marriott directly on Tel: +20 2 2411 5588.

Delegates who register for the conference will be given a special booking link to receive the discounted accommodation rate. (Please note: the discounted accommodation rate expires on the 25th September).

Sponsors

Sponsorship opportunities including exhibition stands are available for this event.

To become a sponsor, please contact Tom Whitehead, Head of Sponsorship Sales at twhitehead@exportagroup.com.

Exporta's events have a global reputation, renowned for superb networking opportunities and educational presentations by high-profile speakers.

Time after time our events attract the leading companies in our market as sponsors.

See below for a full list of our Event Sponsors, Institutional Partners and Media Partners and click on the logo to visit their web site. 

Delegate Packs