Nearly 2,000 business leaders, political decision-makers, and investors from several African countries flocked to Kigali, Rwanda, to take part in the 2024 edition of the Africa CEO Forum.
The Forum, held this year under the theme “AI, Leadership, Common Market: How Africa can win its place at the table of tomorrow’s powers,” is the largest international gathering of the African private sector, according to the organizers.
In an opening address Thursday, Rwandan President Paul Kagame stressed that the private sector in Africa and the world in general plays a central role in the trajectory of development, underlining the importance of integration in the development of African markets.
The multiple crises the world has experienced recently, such as climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic, have shown the need for public and private sectors to work closely together, he said, noting that the integration of the African business community is an opportunity to develop the continent’s markets and enable Africa to become more competitive.
The Forum features more than 60 panels, public-private workshops and roundtables, providing opportunity to participants from different backgrounds to explore the main directions for the continent’s future, tackle key themes such as leadership, NICTs, economic integration in Africa, finance, and infrastructure.
Organized by Jeune Afrique Media Group, in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the event also features a series of high-level conferences, debates, and meetings dedicated to highlighting the driving role of the private sector in Africa’s development.
A large Moroccan delegation, led by Minister of Industry and Trade, Ryad Mezzour, and including President of the General Confederation of Moroccan Employers (CGEM), Chakib Alj, Chairman and CEO of Royal Air Maroc (RAM), Abdelhamid Addou, and President of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Hicham El Habti, is taking part in the two-day Forum.