Bridging trade and investment between SA and India

The 2007 UCT GSB Doing Business in Africa Conference has been endorsed by the Department of Trade and Industry, Indian High Commission, Nepad Business Foundation, Business Unity South Africa, Industrial Development Corporation, Wesgro, Cape Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Cape Town Routes Unlimited.

According to Dr Mills Soko, conference director and a senior lecturer at the UCT GSB, the growth in trade and investment ties between Africa and India provides significant opportunities to pursue mutually beneficial business partnerships through expanded trade and investment, and to develop marketing, technology and production partnerships.

Connecting two continents

The UCT GSB Conference, themed “Connecting Two Continents”, will take place at the business school's Cape Town campus over a period of two days, 20 - 21 September, and will take the form of interactive sessions with panellists acting as catalysts for discussion.

Dr Soko said the format is designed to create an intimate setting in which participants can exchange information and learn from African and Indian trade and investment experiences, identify opportunities for mutually beneficial relationships between African and Indian companies, and examine ways in which governments and the private sector can promote sustained economic growth in Africa and India.

The conference will focus on six sectors with significant potential for the creation of commercial synergies between African and Indian businesses: agri-business; financial services; information and communication technologies; mining, metals and energy; automobiles; and tourism.

Panel leaders

Leaders on these panels will include: Tshediso Matona, director general of the Department of Trade and Industry; Ndidi Okokwo-Nuleni, founder and CEO of Leap Africa; Vikas Swarup, deputy high commissioner of India to SA; Jerry Vilakazi, CEO of Business Unity South Africa; Stanley Subramoney, CEO of PriceWaterhouseCoopers; Janine Myburgh, president of the Cape Regional Chamber of Commerce; Dr Moses Banda, former eEconomic advisor to the President of the Republic of Zambia; Lumkile Mondi, chief economist of the lndustrial Development Corporation; Dianna Games, executive director of Africa@Work; Kuseni Dlamini, executive chairman of Richards Bay Coal Terminal; Nomhle Nkumbi-Ndopu, deputy president of the Black Management Forum; Mischek Mbewe, New Business Development for Africa, Old Mutual; Ajay Pandey, CEO of Neotel, and Ranveer Singh, regional controller (West Africa) of OLAM International.