The US-Africa Business Summit kicks off in Cape Town today Wednesday, 14 November, the first time it will be held on African soil. The three-day event brings a number of high-level government officials to the city as well as businesspeople interested in making new and further investments in South Africa and on the continent. The event is organised by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA).

Many business leaders forecast that Africa, with its wealth of mineral and energy resources – and underdeveloped access to and extraction of them – is the emerging market of the future. Both large and small businesses, eager to find to opportunities for growth, and from a variety of sectors will be attending the event and partnership between US and African businesses will be formed.

The summit is considered a premiere platform for exploring trade and investment opportunities and follows on years of work on the part of the CCA to get US companies to invest here. The sectors the event will focus on include energy, power, telecommunications, mining, infrastructure, tourism, finance, health as well as small business opportunities.

Some of the sessions included in the summit are:
· ‘What can be done to increase sustainable US investment in Africa?’ A dialogue between African heads of state and business leaders
· Investing in Africa: The Chinese and US perspectives
· Financing investment in Africa
· ‘Ensuring a healthier future for Africa: What can business and government do?’ A dialogue among American private sector health advocates and African decision makers
· The role of stockmarkets in the future of Africa
· US-Africa energy cooperation: The future in the oil, gas and power sectors
· US-Africa relations: Moving forward

A plethora of workshops will also take place around the conference themes and sectors. These include:

Agriculture
· Risk management throughout the agriculture value chain
· Renewable energy: Converting bio-mass to agri-fuels
· Agri-processing: Globally competitive quality in Africa
· Beneficiation: Adding value to lives and commodities

Energy and power
· Towards making Nigeria one of the top 20 economies in the world in 2020
· National content: Collaborating to build Africa’s capacity
· Strategic issues facing the Gulf of Guinea
· Responsible investing: Implementing voluntary initiatives and managing social investment in the energy sector

Finance
· Financing housing projects
· Successful development: Examining the relationship between trade and investment
· Financing infrastructure

Health
· The role of public-private partnerships in mitigating the impact of disease on business and communities
· Mobilising for health in Africa: Best practices in leveraging private sector expertise
· Broadening the business coalition against HIV/Aids
· Ethical business practices in the health sector and beyond: Implications for African business and society

Mining
· Coal to liquids: The Sasol experience
· Beneficiation and diamonds: Moving across the value chain

Small business
· Mauritius: A globally competitive destination for investment and business
· Doing business in America: the Detroit case
· Business linkages: African and international perspectives

Information and communications technology
· Driving Africa’s competitiveness and growth: the role of ICT
· Corporate social responsibility: African telecoms leading the way
· An appetite for growth

Regional projects
· Investment opportunities in Angola
· Millennium Challenge Corporation in Africa: Procurement and investment opportunities

Sports and tourism
· Destination Africa: Tourism as the premier engine for sustainable development, entrepreneurial opportunities and new directions

Transportation and infrastructure
· Aviation and economic development
· Nigeria: Looking forward to 2020

Energy and security
· Facilitating regional security in Africa
· Empowering Africa through new energy partnerships