Kenyan academic to lead Africa’s delegation to the Europe-Africa Business Summit

Dr. George Njenga, Dean at Strathmore Business School

Strathmore Business School’s dean Dr. George Njenga will be leading Africa’s delegation to the upcoming Europe-Africa Business Summit (EABS) in Warsaw, Poland on March 19^th, 2015 to take entrepreneurs through the process of starting businesses in Africa.
 

EABS is an annual event that brings together a pool of experts drawn from the academic sector, Government agencies and line ministries as well as Managing Directors and business leaders to provide them with necessary tools to set up African investments.

Under the theme – Investment opportunities in Africa, Dr. Njenga will not only represent the Kenyan academic sector but will also lead a team of nine African delegates for the two-day summit that ends on March 20^th, 2015.

The Dean will be presenting on the growth of African economies in a bid to lobby international companies and entrepreneurs to invest more in African countries including Kenya.

Commenting on the summit, Dr. Njenga, Dean, Strathmore Business School noted, “This is a good opportunity  not only for Kenya as a country but also the entire continent to lure more and more international investors to come invest in Africa.”

 “Over the last decade, we have experienced growth in African economies. Africa has grown faster than East Asia, including Japan. The continent now has a fast-growing middle class: According to the World Bank, around 60m Africans have an income of $3000 annually and 100m will in 2015,” noted Dr. George Njenga.

He further noted, “Despite the global financial crisis of 2008 and its effects, the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa grew at an average of 4.7 per cent a year between 2000 and 2011. The robust performance resulted in the first overall decline in the region’s poverty since the 1970’s, from 58 per cent in 1999 to 47.5 per cent in 2008.  These positive trends have been widespread, with every part of the region benefiting.”

Key topics that will be covered at the summit include – case studies of Enterprise Establishments in Africa, Methods of Financing Corporations with African Partners, Available Public Private Partnerships, Protection against Unfair Practices and Opportunities for Establishing African-Europe Business Contacts.

The Summit aims to encourage international companies as well as entrepreneurs to invest in African countries that form a big number in the list of the world’s fastest growing economies. 

In October 2014, Dr. Njenga made an engagement with the Polish Development Bank (BANK GOSPODARSTWA KRAJOWEGO- BGK) so as to develop a Polish-Kenya economic relationship. As a result, Kenya was listed among the Bank’s partners in matters of investment and trade. 

The 2015 EABS is open to challenge-oriented entrepreneurs intending to boost their enterprises and harboring ambitions of developing a large company in Africa.