March 26-27, 2009
The Table Bay Hotel At the Waterfront, Cape Town
Cape Town, South Africa
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The range and breadth of topics discussed at Exporta’s 3rd African Trade and Investment Finance Conference fully demonstrated the cautious optimism felt by most investors when speaking about African opportunities. In a world of increasing doom and gloom, where traditional relationships are infected with mistrust and a lack of credit, the conference showed that there is still appetite for supporting home- grown entrepreneurial talent to create markets, where exceptional growth is being achieved.
Over a hundred delegates agreed that south- south trade and export diversification would be the driving force behind the fledgling manufacturing base that is emerging throughout the continent, tempering the decline in income as commodity prices plummet. This was concurred dDespite the risks posed by potential political instability, exchange rate volatility, logistical inadequacies and a thin layer of managerial capacity faced by many countries.
However, while a feeling of optimism reigned at the conference, which was attended by bankers and investors, there were also voices urging constraint because of the negative impacts the global financial crisis have has already had on Africa. The twin spectres of protectionism and lack of liquidity threaten to extinguish the green shoots of economic activity, but with Africa becoming increasingly urbanised and needing US$80bn in infrastructure investment in the next few years, everyone agreed that this sleeping lion would be the one to watch…
Some feedback from the conference:
“Very interesting conference giving hope for the future development of Africa.”
Kacou Georges, BNI
“A great opportunity to talk to experts and top specialists in the field. Very spot- on conference.”
CA Thomes, Deutsche Forfait
“Excellent mix of topical subjects and personalities for a conference of this nature.”
E Finaughty, Rand Asia Trade Finance
“A wonderful conference in terms of content, participants and carefully planned networking sessions. For me, attendance was time well spentwell spent.”
B.O. Oramah, Afreximbank
