#News: The #Canada-#Africa Business Summit concluded successfully in #Toronto The four day Canada-Africa Business Summit concluded successfully on Thursday (September 18) in Toronto. The summit which brought together African government representatives, and members of Canadian and African business communities and non-governmental organizations, highlighted the importance of creating a closer, more comprehensive and stronger Canada-Africa cooperative partnership in such areas as education, financial and insurance services, information and communications technologies, infrastructure, mining, and transportation, In his closing remarks, Ed Fast, Canada’s Minister of International Trade, urged Canadian business leaders to tap into the business and investment opportunities in Africa. He noted that: “Increased trade and investment is transforming countless lives and communities across Africa, just as it is creating jobs and generating economic growth in Canada and African countries alike.” He said the Canadian Government was committed to help Canadian companies engage in Africa’s emerging economies and he offered the tools to help them succeed. Christian Paradis, Canada’s Minister of International Development and of La Francophonie, remarked that “Africa’s development is not only an important economic growth story, it is also a development story,” and he assured the Summit that Canadian companies were willing to use “innovative approaches, financial instruments and technologies to build local capacity and create benefits for communities. “ He said that Africa had been experiencing high economic growth rates with “a massive growth of the middle class and the reduction of poverty,” but much still remained to be done to fully address the needs of many people. He stressed that Africa was on the rise and “filled with hope,” and underlined Canada’s commitment to share its capital, technology, and entrepreneurial expertise with Africa to sustain that momentum. He announced that Canada would be providing $309.3 million to “support the growth of small and medium size enterprises, enhance value chain development and expand wealth creation through the African Development Bank.” The Minister also said Canada would be contributing $12.5 million to strengthen mining expertise in Ethiopia. During its four days the Canada-Africa Business Summit featured a whole series of plenary sessions, panel discussions, documentaries, networking events, business-to-business meetings, and expos before concluding on Thursday. The Ethio-Canada Investment and Business Summit which had been held in parallel with the Canada-Africa meeting also concluded on Thursday having provided four days of networking events, business-to-business meetings and product displays, successfully showcasing Ethiopia’s business potential and opportunities. mfa.gov.et/news/more.php?newsid=3484
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 11:12:53 +0000
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