Entrepreneurship Summit and AGOA Foster Networking

Opportunity to make connections can help Africa's economic growth

By Charles W. Corey Staff Writer Washington

Both the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship April 26-27 and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum in August aim to offer business participants and entrepreneurs an opportunity to network productively. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs William Fitzgerald previewed both events for reporters in Nairobi and Yaounde via digital videoconference April 22. The summit fulfills President Obama's pledge, in his Cairo speech in June 2009, to hold such a conference. And the summit will provide a forum where entrepreneurs can exchange ideas on building their businesses, Fitzgerald said. "Help people develop networks" so they can ultimately begin to work together, that's the goal, he said. The AGOA Forum will be held both in Washington and Kansas City, Missouri, to focus on agribusiness.

The annual forum is held alternately in the United States and Africa, with last year's conference in Nairobi. This is the first time an AGOA Forum will be hosted in two U.S. cities. "This is yet another way we hope to help Africa's economic growth," Fitzgerald said. "We have all suffered in the recent global crisis. Some would argue, and I would probably agree, that Africa suffered more, so what we need to do is for all of us to get back on our feet. The best way to do that is to let the private sector do it. Have the business people talking to the business people and let's go from there." Recalling President Obama's remarks in Cairo about the summit, Fitzgerald explained that "the idea of the entrepreneurship summit is to bring together entrepreneurs, foundations - almost like a matchmaking service in a way ... to get ... entrepreneurs together with fellow entrepreneurs in the United States" to network and find ways to expand their businesses.

The summit will host 250 delegates from some 60 different countries. Twenty-three African entrepreneurs - including 11 women - will attend from 10 African countries. In the United States, venture capital firms actively seek businesses in which to invest. In other parts of the world it can be hard to find funding and investment capital, Fitzgerald said. This summit will provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs to share ideas about finding funding, starting a business, soliciting potential investors and dealing with government regulations.

Both the White House summit and the AGOA Forum will include youth and women entrepreneurs. In addition to the women entrepreneurs at the summit, there will be 25 women entrepreneurs at the AGOA Forum in August. Confirmed participants for the White House Entrepreneurship Summit are coming from Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, China, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Finland, France, The Gambia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, the Palestinian Territories, Paraguay, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uganda, the United Kingdom, the United States and Yemen.

Source U.S. Department of State