Challenges affecting East Africa’s economic progress are expected to be at the centre of discussion during this year’s East Africa Business Summit in Kigali next month. The two-day summit under the theme, ‘East Africa for inclusive prosperity in 2020 and beyond’, is expected to bring together over 100 chief executive officers, financiers and government officials to discuss ways of exploiting emerging opportunities in various sectors in the region. It is scheduled for June 4-6 at the Kigali Serena Hotel. Bernice Kimacia, the country senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Rwanda, said discussions will mainly be centred on how to manage the region’s mineral wealth for broad-based inclusive economic development; regional labour policies and practices for efficient business; and examining ways to harness the region’s emerging businesses to stimulate their growth. “The conference will provide a platform to pool together business ideas that would help drive growth in East Africa, turning it into an economic powerhouse.” She added that the summit would provide a platform for business leaders from Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania to engage with policymakers on how to address challenges faced in the business environments. Over the years, the summit has led to more support in areas such as boosting connectivity, value addition in agriculture, infrastructure, Information Communication Technology (ICT) and intra-regional trade. The East Africa Business Summit was established in 2002 as a joint initiative of Citibank, Deloitte, KPMG, Nation Media Group, PwC and Serena hotels to bring together the regional business community and policy makers to discuss ways of addressing challenges that hamper development in the region.
