3rd Annual North Africa Trade & Investment Conference

Event Review

Exporta's 3rd Annual North African Trade & Investment Conference, hosted in the grand surroundings of the Four Seasons Hotel in Cairo, generated a lively, informative and interactive discussion by over 150 leading decision makers from the world of North African trade finance and beyond.

Welcoming an unrivalled line-up of local and international financial institutions, leading local banks, insurers, corporates, lawyers and development institutions, this comprehensive two-day conference focused on the issues and themes that have seen the North Africa region, and specifically Egypt, develop exciting opportunities for trading and trade finance.

The conference consisted of topical debates on essential key issues, including changing risk appetites; opportunities and threats to Egyptian and regional trade; working capital management; strategies in intra-regional development; the use of factoring within the global supply chain; infrastructure project facilities; the growth of Islamic finance, as well as corporate perspectives on the ever evolving promise of the Egyptian oil and gas sector.

Delegates continued their discussions and knowledge sharing during the many networking opportunities and were treated to a wonderful poolside drinks reception to the back drop of the Cairo night skyline. Exporta looks forward to hosting many more events in Africa in the near future.

Description

A thriving market of untapped opportunity, North Africa is one of the recent success stories within global trade, with inward investment into the region having grown exponentially following a series of reforms by governments looking to maximise their competitive edge. Recognising the enormous benefits provided by doing business in North Africa, Exporta returns to Cairo in November 2010 for its 3rd Annual North Africa Trade & Investment Conference.

Now extended to two days, the conference will address the key trade and investment issues within the region, as the growing economies of Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya all open up to greater global integration. Nowhere was this more evident than during last year's conference, which welcomed an official Asian delegation of some 40 business leaders. This year's event will again stress the importance of global trade flows, particularly in terms of non-OECD (south-south) trade.

Leading issues to be discussed will include:

• How has regulatory liberalisation aided recent increases in trade volumes?
• Challenges, opportunities and threats within Egyptian trade
• Working capital and cash management challenges within the marketplace
• Risk appetite: Changing priorities in an evolving landscape
• Corporate case studies and sector profiles
• Bridging trade boundaries: Strategies for the creation of regional trade hubs
• Reassessing North Africa’s capital investment appeal
• The growth of Islamic finance and adoption of Shariah-compliant financing models
• Expanding the remit of multilaterals in protecting emerging market trade growth

Who should attend? 

• Financiers
• Exporters
• Importers
• Local and international banks
• Manufacturers
• Distributors
• Technology solution providers
• Insurers
• Export credit agencies
• Multilaterals
• Lawyers
• Consultants

Brochure

Programme

Day One

08.15 Registration and refreshments

09.15 Chairman’s opening remarks
Mark Fenner, Managing Director, Treasury Services MEA, BNY Mellon

09.30 Keynote: Unlocking North Africa’s trade potential
Denys Denya, Executive Vice President, Afreximbank
• Developing exports to minimise the burden of volatile import prices
• Facilitating a competitive business sector to compete within international markets
• Expanding trade relationships with emerging markets through strategic partnerships and FTAs

10.00 Panel discussion: Challenges, opportunities and threats within Egyptian trade
Moderator: Michael Lacey, Managing Partner, Cairo, SNR Denton
Hassan Ghanem, Senior General Manager, Deputy Head of Corporate Banking, BNP Paribas Egypt
Mohsen Rashad, Head of Financial Institutions & Correspondent Banking, Arab-African International Bank
Hamed Hassouna, Regional Chief Representative, Union de Banques Arabes Et Francaises (UBAF)
• How has Egypt utilised its geographic and liquidity advantages during the crisis?
• Assessing the impact of regulatory liberalisation on aiding regional trade volumes
• Identifying the latest challenges for local trade banks within the current climate
• Shared experiences in forming joint ventures within the Egyptian market
• Redefining banking relations post-credit crisis: what has changed?

11.00 Networking break

11.30 Working capital and cash management challenges within the marketplace
Moderator: Michael Burkie, Vice-President, Business Development Manager, BNY Mellon
Mona El Sayed, Head of Global Transaction Banking, HSBC Bank Egypt
Olivier Berthier, Solutions Director, Transaction Banking, Misys
Nicolas Willard, Senior Manager Trade (EMEA), Swift
• The benefits of SCF in supporting liquidity management and process efficiency
• Challenges posed by migration to open account in times of tight liquidity
• Improving IT infrastructure and the challenges faced by a low-tech client base
• How close are we to seeing adoption of solutions such as Swift TSU across North Africa

12.30 The increasing use of factoring within the wider global supply chain
Ahmed Shaheen, General Manager, Egypt Factors
Alaa Gouda, General Manager, Export Credit Guarantee Company of Egypt
• Focusing on the benefits provided for local exporters in facilitating smooth trade operations
• Considering how increasing pressure to trade under open account has increased demand for factoring
• How tools such as factoring can be used to unlock the huge export potential of markets such as Egypt

13.15 Lunch hosted by NWE

14.30 Case study: Outlining opportunities within Egypt’s oil and gas sector
Guillaume Arditti, Managing Director, Global Energy & Commodities, Structured Debt, Energy, Natixis
Omar Hassan, Corporate Development Manager, Pico Petroleum
• Contrasting oil price recoveries from the 2008 low with recent falls in demand
• How has this impacted on financial investment in production capacity?
• Considering Egypt’s strategic importance through operation of the Suez canal and Sumed pipeline
• What are the new opportunities provided by the oil and gas sector and how can they be maximised?

15.00 Using guarantee facilities to develop infrastructure projects in North Africa and beyond
Luis Barretto, Surety Bonds, PRI & Trade Credit Insurance, Odebrecht Group
• The important role of multilaterals and development agencies in providing guarantees to support the development of  infrastructure projects
• The demands for innovative tools such as guarantee facilities to meet global engineering companies’ guarantees needs
• The use of guarantee instruments to leverage the existing level of surety bond capacity and guarantees: A real experience from Latin America
• Opportunities provided for infrastructure development within the region and beyond

15.30 Networking break

16.00 The legal environment for doing business in Egypt
Arig Ali, Senior Associate, Trowers & Hamlins (in association with Nour Law Office)
Mohamed Nour, Senior Partner, Nour Law Office (in association with Trowers & Hamlins)
• How has the Egyptian economic reform programme affected the legal and regulatory environment?
• Achieving best practice, negotiating bottlenecks and protecting trade and investments
• Approaches for achieving effective dispute resolution in Egypt

16.30 Risk appetite: Changing priorities in an evolving landscape
Moderator: Hana Moharem, Vice President Relationship Manager, North Africa, Egypt & Yemen, BNY Mellon
Alaa Gouda, General Manager, Export Credit Guarantee Company of Egypt
Karim Nasrallah, General Manager, The Lebanese Credit Insurer (LCI)
Dora Fiani, CEO, Coface Egypt
Thomas Holmes, Associate Director, Miller Insurance Services
• The increasing role of export credit agencies in supporting trade activities
• Where does this increased level of coverage leave the private sector?
• Comparing risk coverage enthusiasm within different projects/sectors/countries
• Where is this all heading as the global economy slowly recovers?

17.30 Chairman’s closing remarks following by networking reception sponsored by BNY Mellon

Day Two

08.30 Coffee and networking

09.10 Chairman’s opening remarks
Amr Abou Zeid, Head of Egypt Trade Centers, BNP Paribas Egypt

09.15 Reassessing North Africa’s capital investment appeal
Angus Blair, Head of Research, Beltone Financial
• Leveraging competitive advantages: How attractive an option is North Africa?
• How has the process of reform actually benefitted the investment climate in countries such as Egypt?
• The important role of private equity funds within an emerging market
• What are currently the most appealing sectors for investors?
• Investigating the linkage between greater FDI and increased export volumes

09.45 Tracking the growth of Islamic finance in North Africa
Moderator: Ehsaan Ahmed, Head of Global Transaction Services, Noor Islamic Bank
Amr Abou Zeid, Lecturer of Islamic Finance Strategies
Alper Nalbant, Vice President, Financial Institutions, Aktif Bank Turkey
• Keeping pace with the increase in demand and usage across Asia and the Gulf
• Advantages provided for financing trade deals through shariah-compliant models
• How has Islamic finance fared against more traditional models during the downturn?

10.45 Networking break

11.15 Expanding the role of multilaterals in protecting emerging market trade growth
Shehzad Sharjeel, Regional Head, Middle East & North Africa, IFC Global Trade Finance Program
• Providing an update on the activities of the Global Trade Liquidity Programme (GTLP) in the region
• Increasing focus on the provision of liquidity and risk guarantees during difficult times
• How are multilaterals working together with banks and corporates?

11.45 Bridging trade boundaries: Strategies for aiding intra-regional trade
Moderator: Amr Abou Zeid, Head of Egypt Trade Centers, BNP Paribas Egypt
Driss Alami, Head of Correspondent Banking, BMCI Morocco
Amr Azab, Head of large Corproate Division, BNP Paribas Egypt
• Tracking innovations in place to increase trade levels throughout the Maghreb region
• Developing processing platforms within the supply chain to optimise the cash conversion cycle
• Diversifying local economies and developing new trading partners

12.45 Close of conference followed by networking lunch

Venue

Accommodation

Delegates are responsible for the arrangement and payment of their own travel and accommodation. 

Upon registering to attend this event, Exporta will inform you of how to book accommodation at the Hotel. 

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