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21 October 2009
"Prospects for Africa in the post crisis environment", "Connecting Africa to the world", "The role of Developmental Financial Institutions" and "Community banking" are some of the key themes that will be explored at the Standard Bank Africa Forum 2009 conference in Cape Town, South Africa, from October 27 to 29.
The conference is aimed at bringing together captains of industry from around the world in the core sectors of Oil and Gas, Telecoms and Media, Power and Infrastructure, and Mining and Metals, to engage with each other, African policy makers and potential investors, on Africa opportunities.
Says Brad Koen, Managing Director and Global Head - Client Coverage & Investment Banking at Standard Bank: "The 2009 Standard Bank African Forum, previously known as the Standard Bank Emerging Financial Markets Conference, is the 13th annual conference of its kind and is themed specifically around Africa due to the growing importance of the continent as an investment destination, and Standard Bank's African heritage, with a history of over 147 years. The focus on Africa will be further concentrated on the sectors that we believe will be the most important drivers for growth over the next decade, namely oil, gas and renewables; power and infrastructure; mining and metals; telecoms and media; and local markets."
As Standard Bank's flagship conference, this event typically hosts over 200 delegates. Past prominent speakers have included former US President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary John Snow, former Governor of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, former Vice President of the United States Al Gore and financial commentators such as Jim O'Neil, Dr Jim Walker, and Jim Rogers. Many policy makers from Ministries of Finance and other government departments, as well as Central Bank Governors have been regular attendees.
This year's format will be more comprehensive than ever before. A number of sessions will focus on addressing the world economic situation, and how that relates to the likely outlook for emerging markets, using prominent commentators and experts including Nouriel Roubini, popularly known as Dr Doom, and James Kynge, author of the best-seller "China Shakes the World".
Various policy makers from South Africa and throughout the rest of Africa will also be present to address delegates on issues and initiatives surrounding policy in their countries. Craig Bond, CEO Standard Bank, Beijing, will be speaking on "China and Africa working together", highlighting the strategic partnership with the world's largest bank, ICBC, the largest shareholder in Standard Bank. There are also speakers from China, Russia, Brazil and India, with key attendees and clients from Russia, following Standard Bank's strategic tie up with Russian pre-imminent investment bank and broker, Troika Dialog.
Plenary session speakers include Pravin Gordhan, South African Finance Minister; Dr Seth Terkper, the Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Ghana; Prof Njuguna Ndungu, Kenya Central Bank Governor; and Lamido Sanusi, Nigeria Central Bank Governor. Sanusi will also update the delegates on the recent changes in the Nigerian banking system in a key note address.
Trevor Manuel, Minister in The Presidency, National Planning Commission, will address the conference on the final day.
For more on the Standard Bank Africa Forum 2009 conference see www.standardbank.com/africaforum.
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