The document announces Africa's first regional bilingual online recruitment forum called Convergences, which will take place from November 19-23, 2012. Over 20,000 African professionals and candidates and over 20 large multinational and African companies are expected to participate. By being fully online, bilingual and regional, Convergences aims to provide equal opportunities for candidates from around the world to connect with employers. The forum hopes to address barriers to traditional in-person recruitment by facilitating access to opportunities for qualified Africans regardless of location.

1. Press Release
Africa to Host its First Regional Bilingual Recruitment Forum
• 100% online, using an easy-access 3D platform
• More than 20,000 African professionals and candidates expected
• More than 20 large multinationals and African companies lining up
Dakar, September 11, 2012 - Convergences, the first job fair for African executives and young
professionals held exclusively online, will hold its first session from November 19-23, 2012. By virtue
of being bilingual, regional, and entirely online, the Convergences forum is the first of its kind to
address the entire continent at once. It will also give anyone looking for career opportunities in Africa
the chance to participate, free of charge, from anywhere in the world.
“[Convergences] is for us to give a chance to thousands of executives and young graduates who, for
various reasons, are excluded from many traditional job fairs around the world,” explained Yann
Hazoumè, the Director of People Development, a human resources firm based in Dakar which
launched the idea.
By targeting important “brain reservoirs” of Africans in the Diaspora, the show presents a unique
platform to promote African expertise through direct access to the 3D interface set up by the
organizers. This system provides, for once, an equal opportunity for every candidate while offering
the possibility for companies to choose from the best résumés on the market, all concentrated in one
place, in a short period of time.
The Convergences forum is an opportunity for the organizers to open the doors of the largest
companies in the world to those “Africans with expertise” who are otherwise unlikely to be in
contact with such decision-makers within the major groups in Africa.
This Pan-African initiative, which will see the participation of multinational corporations and large
African companies in search of new talent, is also a demonstration of the willingness of young
Africans to take ownership of the Information, Technology, and Communication (ICT) field and utilize
it for the universal benefit of their continent.
Convergences is a response to the difficulties many companies have experienced “finding candidates
on the continent for their African operations,” says Hazoumè, adding that “a number of these
companies were consistently disappointed by their participation in traditional recruitment
exhibitions.”
By operating completely online, the program directors have removed the barriers inherent to a
physical event, and simultaneously facilitated the return of the African “brain drain” victims.

2. The exhibition is being organized in collaboration with the online professional network Viadeo, a
popular resource among young executives and professionals worldwide.
For further information or for interviews with the organizers, please contact:
Mr. Yann HAZOUME
Email: info@peopledev.net
Tel: +221 33 825 35 28 // +221 76 840 19 23
For regular updates on the fair: http://blog.convergences-lesalon.com