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Thomson Reuters Newsmaker: Is Africa Open for Business?

Activist Toyin Saraki: Problem has always been to transform policies to help the people they are supposed to benefit #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:17:51 AM
H.E. Mrs. Toyin Saraki joins the discussion.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:17:57 AM
She says the key to Africa's development is the way social policy is translated.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:18:30 AM
www.flickr.com

by Reuters_RossChainey via Flickr 5/25/2011 8:18:56 AM
Toyin Saraki: Key to African development is the way we translate the social policy; need to embrace change for transformation #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:18:58 AM
Next up Lord Paul Boateng, one of Britain's most prominent black politicians.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:19:08 AM
Legal frameworks need to be strengthened to help people handle peaceful succession in Africa, says legal activist Toyin Saraki #newsmkr

by reutersCarolynC via twitter 5/25/2011 8:19:33 AM
He talks about countries such as China and India having already reappraised their business relations with Africa, and discussions of it in Europe are behind the curve.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:20:38 AM
Lord Boateng: Q is do we want to stay relevant? If so, we get in there & we do the business...Africa is where it's happening #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:21:16 AM
RT @MarkJones: Paul Boateng says Western nations need to catch up with China and India in reassessing Africa if they want to stay releva ...

by Mark Jones via twitter 5/25/2011 8:21:41 AM
He says the old politicians that have held control in Africa for so long need to be ready to step away from control (while emphasising an importance on respecting the elderly - something he says African countries generally do better than here in the UK).

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:23:17 AM
Mbeki/Zuma transition was smoother than Blair/Brown -UK's Lord Boateng #newsmkr

by reutersCarolynC via twitter 5/25/2011 8:23:38 AM
Tutu Agyare: The smart money is already in Africa. The smart money is already making money in Africa. Money is being made on a risk adjustment basis.

by Reuters_RossChainey 5/25/2011 8:25:26 AM
Tutu Agyare speaks next. He describes the "Is Africa Open for Business?" question as an unnecessary one - suggests trying to book a business class flight to anywhere in Africa on a day's notice, or try finding a hotel room in Lagos at short notice.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:25:45 AM
Tutu Agyare, managing partner at Nubuke Investments: Mitigate risks and get on with it; there is more corruption here in the UK ... #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:26:11 AM
Huge amount of money to be made in Africa, on a risk-adjusted basis - Tutu Agyare, managing partner Nubuke Investments #newsmkr

by reutersCarolynC via twitter 5/25/2011 8:26:37 AM
Florence Eid, Founder and CEO of Arabia Monitor, is up next.

by Reuters_RossChainey 5/25/2011 8:26:45 AM
Tutu Agyare of Nubuke Investments points to how Bob Geldof, doyen of African aid, now has Africa invstmnt fund as sign of the times #newsmkr

by Mark Jones via twitter 5/25/2011 8:27:34 AM
Eid: What we are seeing unfold int he arab countries is a new paradigm. We will see interregional investment flowing through North Africa and the Middle East. It shouldn't be underestimated.

by Reuters_RossChainey 5/25/2011 8:28:11 AM
Inter-regional investment flows are going to increase, she says, sourced from the oil exporting Arab countries.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:28:20 AM
A lot more investment is expected to flow into North Africa, which will percolate through to the rest of Africa, Florence says.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:29:32 AM
She is keen to see a new regional development bank in the African Arab countries, saying this will bring competition to and therefore improve the African Development Bank.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:30:59 AM
Eid: Other mechanism is series of regional institutes, poss an Arab regional development bank. Cld help rejuvenate Africa Dev Bank #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:31:39 AM
She calls for patience from the Sub-Saharan region in waiting for turmoil in North Africa to die down, and promises benefits for all when it does.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:32:36 AM
Hugo Dixon asks the panel if the UK is being too purist and too cautious in dealing with African countries, compared with China and India, or whether the approach is correct and true to the country's values.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:33:45 AM
Arab spring has meant rethink of role of bodies in Africa like devt banks, GCC, Arab League- Florence Eid,ceo of Arabia Monitor #newsmkr

by reutersCarolynC via twitter 5/25/2011 8:34:01 AM
Karume: Western world has failed to see global phenomenon as seeing africa in a way that it should be seen... With the global financial crisis of two years ago, perhaps you just ran out of money?

by Reuters_RossChainey 5/25/2011 8:37:00 AM
Karume wonders whether the problem is that Western nations are falling behind because they've simply run out of money #newsmkr

by Mark Jones via twitter 5/25/2011 8:37:26 AM
Boateng says the OECD values are correct to follow, but that perhaps the UK has not been true to its own entrepreneurial spirits, whereas south-east Asian countries have.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:37:46 AM
His Excellency just asked whether the rest of the world had run out of money to invest :) #newsmkr

by ilicco via twitter 5/25/2011 8:38:17 AM
Boateng: I query whether we've actually been true to our own entrepreneurial instincts...we are running away from managing risks #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:38:17 AM
He rubbishes the notion that engaging in corruption is a requirement for doing business in Africa.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:38:44 AM
We (in the west) are running away from the hard business of managing risk in Africa-you don't have to bribe everybody-Lord Boateng #newsmkr

by reutersCarolynC via twitter 5/25/2011 8:39:25 AM
Boateng: Investors need to abandon 'take me to your leader' approach and talk to all African stakeholders incl opposition parties #newsmkr

by Mark Jones via twitter 5/25/2011 8:40:08 AM
Saraki says the West must lose the idea that African countries do not have their own frameworks of engagement - it is not helpful for a Western company trying to do business there to try bring its own terms and conditions along with the product.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:41:49 AM
Saraki: West has to get rid of assumption that we don't have protocols for engagement ... aid distrib has to be in hands of people #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:42:21 AM
RT @ilicco: "Take me to your leader" approach doesn't work in Africa anymore.Talk to those in power as well as those in opposition. #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:43:04 AM
Agyare says acknowledging and meeting the needs of the African customer is the difference between the approaches of south-east Asian countries and Western countries.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:43:06 AM
Americans do America real well, we don't do anywhere else well at all - former ambassador to Tanzania Charles Stith

by reutersCarolynC via twitter 5/25/2011 8:43:38 AM
TIme for questions from the floor.

by Reuters_RossChainey 5/25/2011 8:43:56 AM
Ambassador Charles Stith: "Americans do America real well. We don't do other places well at all" #newsmkr

by ilicco via twitter 5/25/2011 8:44:37 AM
From audience: I take umbrage with the question, I believe this is very patronizing - there is not one country called Africa. #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:45:12 AM
Q - How do we get the message across to young people that Africa is open for business?

by Reuters_RossChainey 5/25/2011 8:45:48 AM
President Karume: It's up to African governments to do their part. They need to send a message. In Zanzibar we emphasised education, health, infrastructure.

by Reuters_RossChainey 5/25/2011 8:47:07 AM
Karume: Emphasized education, health services and social infrastructure development in Zanzibar, and we started doing better. #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:47:50 AM
Eid says the uprisings in North Africa have been a bursting of frustration from young people on broken promises from leaders over the demographic timebomb in those countries.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:49:29 AM
Sub-Saharan Africa can learn a few lessons from N.Africa -- respond to the demographic timebomb - Florence Eid, Arabia Monitor #newsmkr

by reutersCarolynC via twitter 5/25/2011 8:49:57 AM
Eid-In N.Africa, Arab countries protest over lack of delivery on demographics by young people, insufficient programs launched #jobs #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:50:01 AM
Boateng: What economy has ever grown without further and higher education? Must invest in skills dev and higher education #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:51:03 AM
Boateng says Africa must make a demand of donor to invest in higher and further education, and that African leaders must get over perceptions of academics and students as potential troublemakers rather than the future of production.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:51:33 AM
Boateng: donors' excessive focus on primary education is deskilling Africa -- need focus on secondary education as in Asia #newsmkr

by Mark Jones via twitter 5/25/2011 8:51:56 AM
Q from the floor - could we see uprisings as have been seen in North Africa elsewhere on the continent?

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:52:26 AM
President Karume says he does not see the same events occurring south of the Sahara, because those countries have democratic elections, which provide the checks and balances required between the populace and the government.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:53:57 AM
Hugo Dixon breaks into Karume's answer to refer to a "patchwork" in Sub-Saharan Africa on that issue, mentioning Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:54:38 AM
Next president of the IMF should be South Africa's Trevor Manuel -- former Tanzania ambassador Stith #newsmkr

by reutersCarolynC via twitter 5/25/2011 8:57:09 AM
Ambassador Stith says the youth are aware Africa is open for business - citing the number of African students in U.S. universities that return to their countries to continue their careers, where in the past they would have tried to remain in the U.S. - says what's needed is to facilitate it.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:58:20 AM
Audience at Thomon Reuters event not resounding for Manuel, but Gordon Brown choice as president for IMF gets a laugh #newsmkr

by reutersCarolynC via twitter 5/25/2011 8:58:49 AM
Ambassador Stith calls for Trevor Manuel to be the next head of the IMF.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 8:59:15 AM
Agyare: Image on screen about conflict and crisis, and I take affront at that #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 8:59:27 AM
Tutu Agyare comments on "stereotypical" images on the screen at the event that emphasise conflict as the image of Africa.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 9:00:25 AM
Ken Olsa returns to the stage as the panel discussion ends.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 9:01:38 AM
Ken Olisa: Throw prejudices away and get back to basics #newsmkr

by alertnet via twitter 5/25/2011 9:02:39 AM
That brings a close to this morning's event. A lively discussion - many thanks to all for watching.

by Reuters: Mark Kolmar 5/25/2011 9:06:03 AM

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