'African multinationals join forces to foster Africa’s growth, development'

19 Octobre 2017

Lagos, Nigeria, October  19 (Infosplusgabon) - Giants of Industries, including CEOs from 13 African countries, and former presidents have put together the "AfroChampions Initiative', a new platform to mobilise African multinationals to accelerate the economic integration of the continent.

The Industry bigwigs include Aliko Dangote of the Dangote Group in Nigeria, former  presidents Thabo Mbeki and Olusegun Obasanjo, who together with the others took a new step with the official creation of the "AfroChampions Club".

At the invitation of Dangote, Founder and CEO of the Dangote Group and President of the Club, key business leaders, representing a total of 13 African countries, met in Lagos on 14 October, 2017, for the inaugural meeting.

High-level personalities, including the Nigerian Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, joined Mbeki, former President of the Republic of South Africa and President of the AfroChampions Initiative, Obasanjo, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Patron of the initiative, for the event.

Reports say that participants at the inaugural meeting launched two work streams, including the focus on gathering recommendations from various African multinationals on best approaches to achieve the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA). These recommendations will be shared officially with the African Union, which was represented at the meeting by Mr. Albert Muchanga, the AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry.

Discussions focused on visa waivers and trade facilitation between African states.

The second work stream focused on drafting an AfroChampions Charter aimed at defining how African multinationals can best contribute to the development of the continent.

By working with the local ecosystems, supporting infrastructure projects, fostering industrialization or helping populations enter the digital era, African economic champions can indeed play a strategic role.

"We have chosen to work on issues of interest to all Africans. The African Free Trade Area will give us the ability to travel and work easily across the continent; it will also foster the creation of regional value chains, integrating SMEs and building capacities in our countries”, said Dangote. “As for the AfroChampions Charter, it is a commitment by African multinationals to invest more and better in Africa in those projects with strong economic and social impacts.

"Our primary responsibility is to give our youth jobs and a future. I was very pleased to hear the consensus on this issue and I expect the Charter to be signed by many of my fellow CEOs in the near future,” he added.

A member of the Executive Committee of the AfroChampions Initiative, Edem Adzogenu highlighted the quality of the discussions, saying “We talked about the role that African multinationals can have as ambassadors of the continent and its talents, and ways to work better with the public sector.

"This new dynamic of dialogue is precisely what we want to put in place.”

A progress report on the work of the AfroChampions Club is planned for the next African Union summit in January 2018.

The emergence and cross-border activities of home-grown African multinationals have contributed significantly to regional integration through intra-Africa investments and regional value-chains.

According to reports emanating from the inaugural meeting, the AfroChampions Initiative is designed to support and harness the emergence of these champion companies for Africa’s transformation.

It also aims at facilitating strategic engagements on how these companies can grow from pan-African champions to African global giants.

The AfroChampions Initiative is a set of innovative public-private partnerships and flagship programs designed to galvanize African resources and institutions to support the emergence and success of African private sector multinational champions in the regional and global spheres.

The Initiative, driven by the AfroChampions Organization, was founded by the advisory firm Konfidants; and is Co-Chaired by Mbeki and  Dangote,.

The Initiative is headquartered in Accra, Ghana, and works with regional and global partners and governments, with the support of other corporate and institutional partners including ADS Group, the Djondo Fellowship, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library and Thabo Mbeki Foundation.

FIN/INFOSPLUSGABON/OPL/GABON 2017

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