By: MOMODOU L JAITEH, Founder and CEO of KABA COMMUNICATIONS
The Cairo-based apex business body, Egyptian African Businessmen Association (EABA) Tuesday organized the maiden edition of “African Agriculture Day 2021,” the body has revealed to The Voice Newspaper.
According to EABA sources, the “African Agriculture Day 2021,” the very first time it was marked, revolved around the slogan: “Modern Agriculture – Better economy,” brought together participants including experts and businessmen from African and beyond.
The meeting enabled participants in identifying African experiences in agriculture as well as trading with the African markets involving importers and exporters.
This came on the heels of another event recently organized by EABA which took the form of marketing and business development workshop for medical and pharmacy students and fresh graduates on the African continent.
Dr. Yousrey Elsharkawy, EABA’s Chairman, Dr. Ahmed AlGowaily, a consultant and EABA-Member of the Board of Directors among others made presentations.
It could be recalled that the body also held a conference on: “the role of African rapprochement in supporting entrepreneurship projects” which was virtually attended by EABA members and affliates within Africa and beyond.
In her presentation, Ms Anne Wanjiku Mutahi, a senior advisor on SME Development in Kenya revealed that some “great opportunities exist” in her country which had some 40 million SMES under her belt already.
She continued to stress the need for improvement of legal frameworks in many African countries and the creation of environment for Africans to trade better among themselves.
Anne also emphasized the importance of having access to finance for women entrepreneurs as well as the right kind of financing solutions in Africa.
For her part, Ambassador Roberts Annan, a UN goodwill ambassador from Ghana and Founder of Annan Capital Partners called for the need to think about the environment in the drive to achieve meaningful economic development on the continent.
According to her, “Africans are very wasteful” despite the fact their continent is blessed. “So we must protect the beautiful environment which Africa is blessed with,” Annan reiterated.
She mentioned challenges posed by climate change and other problems as Africans marched towards sustainable growth and business insisting the encouragement of solar-energy considering the abundance of sun in Africa.
Other speakers at the conference included: Joy Zenz, Founder and CEO of African Women in Europe and African Women in Trade, Alexander Anim-Mensah, an Engineering Manager based in United States of America, among others.
Note: To react to this story or issues relating to the Business Column, you can drop and email to the author via email – jaitehml@yahoo.com or by phone: (00220) 2640667 (whatsApp) .