Top minds to meet at Africa Shared Value Summit this May

This year will see the return of Absa as the headline sponsor. They will be joined by Enel, Old Mutual, Nando’s, Discovery and the World Food Programme. Also returning in 2018 is MC Eusebius McKaiser, who will once again bring his wealth of experience and panache to the role. Each one of the sponsors has shown a commitment to the Shared Value business model from the highest levels through the entire organisation, an essential element of truly effective Shared Value creation.

A speaker highlight will be Mark Kramer, co-founder and MD of FSG, the organisers of the Shared Value Leadership Summit and the drivers of the North American Shared Value Initiative. Kramer and Prof. Michael Porter co-authored the seminal Harvard Business Review articles that catapulted the concept of Creating Shared Value to global renown. In his current role, he continues to educate businesses about the vital strategic shift that must be made to ensure a better future not only for business, but for society as well.

African excellence runs strongly through the 2018 programme, with business leaders from across the continent set to take the stage. Dr Amy Jadesimi, MD and CEO of the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL), was named one of the Top 25 Africans To Watch by the Financial Times in 2015. “It’s really important that the private sector grasps the SDGs as a fantastic business opportunity,” she says. Through the implementation of a Shared Value strategy, LADOL is making a long-term contribution to the industrialisation of Nigeria and the creation of thousands of new, sustainable jobs.

Barclays Africa Group Deputy CEO Peter Matlare will delve into the banking giant’s Shared Growth strategy. Matlare has a wealth of business experience in a variety of industries, having previously served as CEO of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), chief strategy and business development officer of Vodacom South Africa and CEO of Tiger Brands. Barclays Africa has been a Shared Value pioneer on the African continent, showing how the business model can be used to address some of Africa’s unique challenges.

Other notable speakers to take the stage at the 2018 Summit include Lizeka Dlepu, Head of Sustainability and Community at Enel South Africa; Sam Hirst, Nando's Farming Initiative Manager; and Prerana Issar, Director of Private Sector Partnerships at the UN World Food Programme.

Shared Value reconnects business success with social progress. It shows that business can take an active role in addressing social ills by seeing the opportunity in the challenges we face – and this is the key to making Africa the economic powerhouse of the twenty-first century. Tickets are available from Quicket and the Africa Shared Value Summit website.

For more information, visit www.africasharedvaluesummit.com or follow the Africa Shared Value Summit on social media.