University organises conference on business growth in Africa

Kenya will this month host another high-level international conference on business acceleration in Africa.

The three-day conference, set for October 27, has been organized by

Mount Kenya University (MKU) and Germany’s Leipzig University.

The conference, whose theme is “New concepts for business acceleration for Africa” will be held at Kenyatta International Convention Centre.

The event will bring together SMEs, academicians, regulators, industry players, policy makers, financial institutions, entrepreneurs and investors from across Africa, Europe and US.

 ‘‘The conference, dubbed icabumpain4in 2015 marries the intelligence for innovation (in4in) concept of Leipzig University and the International Conference for the Advancement of Business and Management Practice in Africa (ICABUMPA) of Mount Kenya University besides embracing key aspects of the recent Global Economic Summit that was held in Nairobi,’’ says Dr Vincent Gaitho, MKU’s Council Vice chairman.

He added that the conference is also a follow-up to the 2014 IN4IN conference held in Ethiopia and the ICABUMPA conference that was held in 2011 in Nairobi.

Dr Gaitho explained that the conference intends to proffer practical roadmap to growth of business in Kenya and Africa through a multi-sectoral approach.

‘‘Equally important, the conference will bring together academia and industry, creating anopportunity for shared synergies in contributing to socio -economic development in Africa. The conference will see the two sectors enhance their symbiotic existence, ’’ 

 ‘‘There will be a plenary session during which reputable national and international experts from different sectors will give keynote speeches. At the same time, there will be exhibitions under the Small Business Innovation and Entrepreneurship Awards (SBIEA) 2015 targeting small and medium enterprises (SMEs),’’ he explained in statement.

SBIEA 2015 intends to provide entrepreneurs with an opportunity to exhibit their innovative products and services while participating in a specialized training session on innovation management.

He said the conference, that follows closely the recently concluded GES summit presents a unique opportunity where all the elements of business ecosystem congregate under one roof.