East Africa Business Summit moved to allow attendance by top CEOs

The 2014 East Africa Business Summit, which was planned for June 4 to 6 in Kigali, Rwanda, has been postponed.

The two-day summit, titled Positioning East Africa for Inclusive Prosperity in 2020 and Beyond, will now take place from October 23 to 25.

The meeting will bring together over 100 top chief executive officers financiers and government representatives to address wide-ranging development issues affecting the region.

The conveners have received numerous requests from delegates and sponsors to have the dates moved given the proximity of this year’s summit to the recently concluded World Economic Forum in Nigeria, where a good number of the target participants took part.

Chairman of the Convenors Committee, Linus Gitahi, said the decision was collectively taken to move the summit to October in the interests of delivering the very top CEOs of the region.

The move will also help align the biennial forum with previous summit dates. “We are committed to delivering a summit attended by captains of industries across East Africa while maintaining consistency on the schedule for the summit,” he said.

Integral summit

This, Gitahi added, would allow targeted delegates and sponsors to plan ahead for the integral summit that continues to outline key focus areas for East African states to drive inclusive regional development.

“Conveners will continue to actively engage with registered and potential delegates across the region as they seek to secure all-inclusive representation while giving more delegates time to attend,” he said.

He said the conveners believed the decision to move dates would also add impetus to the objectives, discussions and outcomes, further building on this year’s agenda, which includes focus on managing mineral wealth for inclusive economic development.