1. PROGRAMME
Tuesday, November 17th
09.30 Welcome Address
H.E. Majid Saif Al Ghurair, Chairman, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry
____________________________________________________________________________
09.40 Opening Keynote Address
H.E. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy, UAE
____________________________________________________________________________
09.50 The Big Picture – Is Africa Ready to Drive Global Growth?
Perspectives on the potential of Africa to accelerate to double-digit growth,
overcome the challenges of poverty and energise the sluggish world economy
tend to be polarised. While some still see huge opportunity ahead, others point to
falling growth rates and stagnating productivity. Is Africa still rising? Or is it
already stumbling, as commodity prices fall and Chinese demand slows?
Sim Tshabalala, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Bank, South Africa
Mustafa Abdel-Wadood, Partner, The Abraaj Group, UAE
Moderator: Nik Gowing, International Broadcaster
_____________________________________________________________________________
10.45 The Infrastructure of Trade - Africa and the Global Economy
Boosting and diversifying global and intra-regional trade is a prerequisite for
sustainable growth in Africa, but it requires a solid foundation of both hard and
soft infrastructure to make it happen. In this session, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem,
Chairman of DP World will discuss the opportunities and challenges in creating
this infrastructure.
H.E. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman, DP World, UAE
Moderator: Eithne Treanor, Managing Director, E Treanor Media
____________________________________________________________________________
11.15 Networking Break
____________________________________________________________________________

2. 11.45 Next Steps - Cementing Gains and Enabling the Future
African nations have grown fast in the past decade, driven by commodities and
growing consumer demand. But they will need to keep on growing for several
decades to bring widespread prosperity - and they face a global environment that
is significantly less benign. In this session, we discuss what government leaders
in Africa can do to facilitate long-term growth and how they can ensure financing
for their strategies.
H.E. Paul Kagame, President, Rwanda
H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President, Somalia
H.E. Mohammad I. Al Shaibani, Executive Director & Chief Executive Officer,
Investment Corporation of Dubai, UAE
Moderator: Nik Gowing, International Broadcaster
__________________________________________________________________________
12.45 Networking Lunch
____________________________________________________________________________
14.00 Pan-African Business – Becoming a Reality?
The stepping stones to a pan-African free trade zone are coming into place. The
Tripartite Free Trade Agreement announced this year between COMESA, SADC
and EAC has the potential to accelerate intra-regional trade and investment and
the aim is to extend this to include the entire continent. Key African leaders will
discuss their vision of regional integration and look at what is needed now to turn
that potential into reality.
H.E. Richard Sezibera, Secretary General, East African Community
Hon. Aston Kajara, State Minister of Finance for Privatisation, Uganda
Moderator: Mark Eddo, Managing Director, Mark Eddo Media
____________________________________________________________________________
15.00 Networking Break
____________________________________________________________________________
15.30 The Commodity Oddity – What Role in Africa’s Future?
Over the past decade, Africa attracted billions in investment into exploration and
extraction of natural resources – in large part driven by high commodity prices.
The drop in prices and the fall in Chinese demand has hit companies in these
sectors hard and while there is still optimism about new gas and oil discoveries,
there are concerns about the effect on the wider economy. In this session we will
look at the role of natural resources in Africa’s future economy.
Hon. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Minister of Trade and Industry, Ghana
Hon. Kerfalla Yansane, Minister of Mines and Geology, Republic of Guinea
Dr Amy Jadesimi, Managing Director, LADOL, Nigeria
Moderator: Eithne Treanor, Managing Director, E Treanor Media

3. ____________________________________________________________________________
16.30 New Drivers – Leveraging Islamic Finance
A quarter of the world’s Muslim population lives in Africa, so it is not surprising that
countries across the continent are turning to Islamic finance as a way to support
infrastructure growth as well as raise money on sovereign markets. In this session
we will discuss the role of financial services in Africa’s development, and how
emerging sources of funding such as Islamic finance can complement existing
funding streams to help the continent meet its development goals.
H.E. Hamad Buamim, President & CEO, Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Dr. Adnan Chilwan, Group Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Islamic Bank, UAE
V. Shankar, Chief Executive Officer & Partner, Gateway Partners, UAE
Moderator: John Andrews, Contributing Editor, The Economist
____________________________________________________________________________
17.30 Networking Reception
____________________________________________________________________________
19.30 Gala Dinner
____________________________________________________________________________

4. Wednesday, November 18th
09.00 Yesterday and Today – In Brief
The morning will commence with a summary of memorable points from the first
day’s sessions – and an overview of the second day.
John Andrews, Contributing Editor, The Economist
___________________________________________________________________________
09.10 The Innovation Leapfrog – a Conversation with Ameenah Gurib Fakim
Africa is not known for ground-breaking advanced science, and blue sky research
is often seen as a luxury when today’s needs cannot be met. But as the African
population doubles over the next 35 years, the continent will need innovative new
approaches to everything from growth to education and health. In this
conversation with the President of Mauritius, an eminent biologist and world expert
on biodiversity, we will discuss her plans to set up scientific think tanks and
explore the potential and obstacles to creating a dynamic science base.
H.E. Ameenah Gurib Fakim, President, Mauritius
Moderator: John Andrews, Contributing Editor, The Economist
____________________________________________________________________________
09.40 New Drivers – Africa’s Future Factories
With digital technology transforming mass-market business models, African
nations are unlikely to be able to take the same path to prosperity that most
higher-income countries have taken, leveraging cheap labour and competitive
exports before climbing up the value chain. The African Union aims for Africa to
lead the new innovative industrial revolution, but manufacturing growth has been
disappointing so far. What role can businesses in Africa play in this future world?
And what needs to happen now to facilitate it?
Jay Ireland, President and CEO, GE Africa, USA
Tarek Sultan, Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman, Agility, Kuwait
Mawuena Trebarh, Chief Executive Officer, Ghana Investment Promotion
Centre, Ghana
Moderator: Mark Eddo, Managing Director, Mark Eddo Media
____________________________________________________________________________
10.40 Networking Break
____________________________________________________________________________

5. 11.10 Filling the Skills Gap – Developing Africa’s 21st
Century Workforce
If African countries are to continue to grow over the next few decades,
educational institutions and the private sector will need to focus on filling the
skills gap. In this session, we discuss what is needed to ensure that young
Africans are capable of meeting the needs of the emerging knowledge economy
and can produce innovative solutions to the continent’s challenges.
Rt. Hon. Ruhakana Rugunda, Prime Minister, Uganda
Dr. Cheick Modibo Diarra, Former Transitional Prime Minister, Republic of Mali
Anand Kapoor, Founder and Vice-Chairman, Midcom Group, UAE
Moderator: Eithne Treanor, Managing Director, E Treanor Media
__________________________________________________________________________
12.15 Networking Lunch
____________________________________________________________________________
13.45 New Drivers – Connecting Africa
Until recently, the lack of intra-African carriers meant it was necessary to travel
between African cities via Europe. The emergence of an African aviation industry
has changed both reality and perceptions. In this session, Tewolde GebreMariam,
CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, one of the main drivers of this change, explores the
future of the industry and the impact on trade and investment.
Tewolde GebreMariam, Chief Executive Officer, Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia
Moderator: Zemedeneh Negatu, Managing Partner Ethiopia, Head of Transaction
Advisory Services, EY
__________________________________________________________________________
14.30 The Elder and the Entrepreneur – Realising Africa’s Decade
A former president and a young entrepreneur share their thoughts on the lessons
of Africa’s development and discuss what is needed to make the 2020s Africa’s
decade.
H.E. Joaquim Chissano, Former President, Republic of Mozambique
Sangu Delle, Chief Executive, Golden Palm Investments, Ghana
Moderator: John Andrews, Contributing Editor, The Economist
____________________________________________________________________________
15.15 Key Findings
Summing up Africa Global Business Forum 2015
John Andrews, Contributing Editor, The Economist
____________________________________________________________________________
15.30 End of AGBF 2015
____________________________________________________________________________