KEPSA CEO Ms Carole Kariuki participated in the 14^th U.S.-Africa Business Summit, hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) on 21st July 2022 in Marrakech, Morocco. Themed “Building Forward Together”, this year’s summit sought to explore a renewed commitment by both public and private sector stakeholders to building stronger U.S.-Africa trade, investment, and commercial ties as the world emerges from unprecedented health and economic challenges.

The two-day summit featured a broad range of interactive sessions. While participating in a panel discussion entitled ‘SMEs: Fueling the Recovery and Economic Growth’, Ms Kariuki highlighted the role of SMEs in economic development. Compared to large businesses, she said, SMEs were the hardest hit by COVID-19, as sectors like retail, hospitality, food services, entertainment services, and construction activities are overrepresented by SMEs.

“Despite the challenges, SMEs exhibited resilience by incorporating creativity and innovation to pivot and change business activity as per the orientation of the market’s customers and needs. These together with Government and other partners’ support set Kenyan SMEs on the path to recovery.” She said.

The KEPSA CEO went further to highlight some of the challenges that SMEs face such as access to affordable credit, low capitalization, delayed payments, and informality. Ms Kariuki shared interventions spearheaded by KEPSA with regards to SME development especially looking at cross-cutting policy issues through participation in our Public-Private Dialogue Platforms such as review of the companies as well as the partnerships act and development of programs to scale SMEs such as the E-Commerce Booster Program, coaching to access finance, Supporting digital transition amongst other initiatives.

During the two-day summit, over 1,000 U.S. and African government officials and business executives converged at the forefront of U.S.-Africa economic engagement and partnership, with a focus on the most important sectors in Africa including health, energy, infrastructure, agriculture, mining and ICT.

Ms Florizelle Liser – President and CEO, CCA expressed her profound thanks to the government of the Kingdom of Morocco for partnering with CCA in hosting the 2022 Summit. She mentioned that CCA was greatly honoured that the Summit was being held under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed V1.

The Summit provided an excellent opportunity to highlight the synergies of the U.S-Morocco, Morocco- sub-Saharan Africa, and broader U.S – Africa economic relationship.

Morocco is the only African free trade agreement (FTA) partner and can lead the way in showing how to enhance the U.S-Africa trade relationship with key bilateral partners such as Kenya as well as through the AfCFTA.

“Morocco is also one of the largest investors in sub-Saharan Africa, and potential partnerships linking U.S. and Moroccan investors into key sectors and projects across the African continent is something we hope can be sparked by the Summit deliberations. Improving energy and transportation infrastructure, addressing climate change and food security, and digitizing trade are other areas ripe for U.S. – Africa government and private collaboration and investment that will be vital to supporting African economic and sustainable growth, creating jobs and enhancing the prosperity of both African and Americans.” She said.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the summit via video link, Hon. Kamala Harris – Vice President, U.S.A invited the participants to the U.S.-Africa Leaders’ Summit which will host leaders from across the African continent in Washington, DC on December 13-15, 2022.

“The Leaders’ Summit will demonstrate America’s enduring commitment to their African partners, and it will be based on principles of mutual respect and shared interests and values. A critical part of this Summit will be to bolster our economic relationship, which brings me to the importance of this gathering of public and private sector leaders in Marrakech.” She said.

The Summit will build on the shared values to better foster new economic engagement; reinforce the U.S.-Africa commitment to democracy and human rights; mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and of future pandemics; work collaboratively to strengthen regional and global health; promote food security; advance peace and security; respond to the climate crisis, and amplify diaspora ties.

Hon. Alice Albright – CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) on her part said through Prosper Africa, – the U.S. Government’s initiative to increase trade and investment, and promote sustainable development across the continent, is strengthening partnerships to ensure people on both sides of the Atlantic have the opportunity to create a better life for their children, their families, and their communities, and to realize their full potential.

“Since launching Prosper Africa two years ago, the U.S. Government has supported 800 two-way trade and investment deals in 45 countries in Africa, worth an estimated $50 billion.” She said.

In his remarks, Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina – President of African Development Bank Group, said that Africa is primed to be the alternative source of natural gas supply to help secure energy supplies to Europe, following the Russian war in Ukraine that has disrupted energy supplies.

“Mozambique, with the support of the African Development Bank and private investors is poised to become the 3rd largest supplier of natural gas in the world, from a $24 billion investment. From Nigeria to Ghana, Tanzania, Senegal, Morocco and Kenya, Africa now has some of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas.” He said.

Other leaders who spoke in the opening ceremony included H.E. Nasser Bourita – Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccan Expatriates, Kingdom of Morocco, Chakib ALJ – President, The General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises.

During the ‘SMEs: Fueling the Recovery and Economic Growth’ panel, Ms Kariuki was joined by Hicham Zanati Serghini, CEO, TAMWILCOM, Dr Mame Aby Sène, General Delegation for the Rapid Entrepreneurship of Women and Youth from the Republic of Senegal, and Samir Lebbar, Senior Vice President, North and West Africa, Procter and Gamble. The session was moderated by Vera Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of The Economic Commission for Africa.

About CCA and the Summit;

The Corporate Council on Africa, the convener of the summit, is the leading U.S. business association focused solely on connecting business interests between the United States and Africa. CCA uniquely represents a broad cross-section of member companies from small and medium-sized businesses to multinationals as well as U.S. and African firms.

Under the High Patronage of His Majesty, King Mohammed VI of Morocco Corporate Council on Africa in partnership with the Kingdom of Morocco is hosting the 2022 U.S.-Africa Business Summit in Marrakech, Morocco.

The 2022 Summit seeks to build on the momentum of last year’s virtual Summit, which focused on the unique opportunity for the new U.S. Administration and its African partners to reset and redefine their relationship as they work together to shape the path for economic recovery needed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The summit highlights included Plenary Sessions and sector-focused Panels and allowed participants to hear from an exceptional lineup of 100+ business and government leaders on industry-tested solutions to today’s business challenges in agribusiness, finance, energy, health, infrastructure, ICT, security, and more.

Invest in Africa Country Forums allowed participants to interact with high-level government officials and business leaders from countries with some of the most promising markets for investments and hear about business opportunities, government policies, and success stories.

Private Meetings allowed participants to engage in closed-door conversations with key decision makers to discuss business needs and concerns.

High-Level Dialogues allowed delegates to connect with high-level African government delegations including heads-of-state, senior U.S. government officials, and CEOs and senior executives of U.S. and African companies.

Doing Business in Africa with Prosper Africa Agencies allowed delegates to engage with representatives from key USG agencies and discover the resources and tools to aid businesses investing in Africa.

B2B and B2G Networking allowed delegates to access a trusted network of 1000+ business and government leaders and discover new business partners. Networking is the #1 reason participants attend the Summit.

Exhibition Center allowed companies to showcase their products and services to leading businesses and key government officials and amplify their brands in the U.S.-Africa business and investment community.