Venture capital to dominate EA business conference

FINANCING entrepreneurial ventures is one of the key issues to feature prominently in the forthcoming maiden East African Business and Entrepreneurship Conference and Exhibition in Nairobi, Kenya.

EABC Executive Director Ms Lilian Awinja said one year after the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, they realised the need for a critical follow up on the actual tangible impacts of initiatives like “Trade Africa” or “Power Africa”, that have come along with large funds to promote entrepreneurship.

 “This is why we will have two sessions on the opportunities and experiences to access those funds and on the requirements for other ways of financing,” she said.

 Slated for October 10 to 13 in Nairobi, the crucial conference is organised by the East African Business Council (EABC) in partnership with the East African Community (EAC) respective national investment agencies.

 On the session, financial Institutions such Kenya’s KCB Bank will elaborate on the key issues relevant for the financing of entrepreneurial enterprises.

EABC chief added: “This is not on big funds and programmes only but also a chance to learn about innovative sources like crowd funding, impact investment and other incubator initiatives”.

 The conference will also focus on Manufacturing, infrastructure, leather and textiles and energy in parallel sessions, Ms Awinja said. The exhibition expects to pull some 300 participants from the infrastructure-, manufacturingand energy sector, from ICT - and leather and textile industries, as well as from financing institutions.

 “Important policy makers and top representatives of relevant international organisations have committed themselves to participate,” she said. In the 2016 edition, the East African Entrepreneurship Conference will be hosted in Kenya with KenInvest as the national partner.

 The investment agencies of the other EAC Countries, namely Burundi Investment Promotion Authority (API), Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) and Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) will present actual bankable projects.

 Moreover, the Federation of German Industries (BDI), the umbrella association of German industry, is the key international partner, to bring a substantial and high-level participation from Germany’s vast industrial sector.