The Corporate Council on Africa unveils the new brand mark for the US-Africa Business Summit
The Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) today unveiled the new brand mark for the organization’s flagship event: The US-Africa Business Summit, the largest meeting of its kind in America. The biennial summit will be held in Washington, DC, October 5-7, 2011.
“For us, the new brand mark for the Summit emphasizes value, credibility, longevity and relationships” said Stephen Hayes, President and CEO of CCA. “Underlying the visual elements is a long history of what the nation’s premier US-Africa business conference really stands for—-building relations between the nations of Africa and the United States.”
Since its inception in 1997, in Chantilly, Virginia, the CCA US-Africa Business Summit has brought together Heads of State along with other government and business leaders to engage in dialogue on US and Africa trade, economic and political relationships. In 1997, two thousand participants gathered in the first Africa business-focused conference of this scale in America. Those attending included Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, then First Lady Hillary Clinton and several African Heads of State. The First Lady of America addressed participants in with what have proven to be prophetic words: “We want Africa to be a strong partner for peace, prosperity and progress in the 21st Century. Today the questions for all of us who care about the future of Africa is: What can be done to sustain and deepen the democratic and economic transformation that is now underway?”
Two years later, in Houston, Texas the summit showcased partnerships between the US and African private sector, particularly in the energy sector, with more than twenty workshops and two high-level roundtables featuring African and American decision-makers addressing African energy issues and the future of regional integration and cooperation.
In Philadelphia, the Summit again found itself at the edge of history, as it was scheduled to be held only five days after the events that changed the course of history on September 11, 2001. More than two thousand persons, including seventeen Heads of State, were forced to postpone their attendance for two months, when the rescheduled summit was convened in a very new world. Headliners included, Algerian President Bouteflika and, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Kabila. The Chairman of the US Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, Joe Biden led the way for the United States government. The first AGOA private sector meeting was also held as part of the 2001 Summit.
The 2003 Summit, in Washington, DC, was the breakthrough Summit for the Corporate Council on Africa. The President of the United States, George W. Bush addressed the summit and made his first US policy statement towards Africa, stating “This Administration is committing billions in resources to ensure that the fight against AIDS, terrorism and famine is a battle won in the continent of Africa.” Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, the US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, and the presidents of Ex-Im Bank, the Trade and Development Agency and OPIC also addressed the event. Fourteen African Heads of State or Heads of Government also participated. It remains today the largest assemblage of African Heads of State to come together in Washington, DC.
In 2005, the US-Africa Business Summit moved 45 miles to the north in Baltimore, Maryland, seeking stronger State participation and attention to Africa. Then Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich stated that his Administration “is committed to strengthening partnership with African nations”, and did so with two trade missions to Africa within a year of the summit. Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley said, “The Summit will increase investment opportunities for American businesses throughout the African continent, increase understanding between the United States and Africa, and allow senior government officials to come together to build and strengthen partnerships between Africa and the United States.” The US Government participation was led by the Administrator of USAID Andrew Natsios. For the first time at a CCA Summit, the President of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz also addressed the summit, breaking away early from his first board meeting at the World Bank to speak at the Summit gala dinner.
In the Summit’s tenth anniversary year, the CCA US-Africa Business Summit was held on the Continent, in Cape Town, South Africa. The Secretary of the Treasury, Hank Paulson, led the American Government delegation, and President Museveni of Uganda led the Africans. “That summit was an excellent example of cooperation in planning between Africans and Americans, and it was successful in nearly every way” said Stephen Hayes.
The most recent benchmark, the seventh biennial Summit drew business leaders from throughout Africa and the United States, as well as seven Heads of State, more than three hundred ninety presenters in a record sixty workshops, and saw a record number of Summit sponsors. For the second time in the Summit’s history, the Secretary of State, this time Hillary Clinton, led the American Government representation, along with US Trade Representative Ron Kirk. Also for the first time, CCA’s sister organizations from Canada, Europe and Japan, as well as its key organizational partners in Nigeria and South Africa met to lay out a long-term strategy for cooperation on Africa.
The CCA US-Africa Business Summit remains the single-most important US-Africa economic conference. It is the premiere event for finding and building partnerships. Businesses of all sizes, representing various industries will be in attendance from nearly every country in Africa as well as from throughout the United States and other parts of the world. All will be eager to find new opportunities to grow and build on their bottom line.
Join CCA and more than 1500 private and public sector leaders to discover business and investment opportunities in Africa, the very place were some of the world’s major business deals are now taking place. Africa is this decade’s investment opportunity. Don’t miss it.
This article was originally posted on Africa Management Consulting Network
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