London Stock Exchange today welcomes Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance of Nigeria as the keynote speaker at its annual African Investment Summit. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala celebrated the launch of the Summit by opening London trading. She was joined by senior executives from some of Africa's leading businesses.
The event featured the participation of 13 companies from 7 African countries from sectors including financial services, telecommunications, oil & gas, mining, food production and retail. The Summit allows the companies to engage with over 100 London-based and international analysts and potential investors as well as hearing from leading African business leaders, experts and government ministers.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance, Nigeria said:
"I'm delighted to be speaking at this important Summit today. Building on the strong ties that link Nigeria and London will help drive awareness of the exciting investment opportunities in our country and highlight the profile of Nigeria's many world-class companies.
"Developing strong, transparent economies with a backbone of local, well-financed companies able to invest locally as well as continent-wide is a key step in Africa's development. Today's event is clear evidence of the exceptional levels of enthusiasm international investors share with me about Nigeria and Africa's growth potential."
Xavier Rolet, CEO, London Stock Exchange Group said:
"With 98 African-focussed companies listed on our markets, and African companies having raised over $5.7 billon since 2008, London is the global gateway for fast growing African companies to access global investment funds. As today's event demonstrates, there is an unrivalled community of analysts and investors in London focussed on the exciting business opportunities Africa has to offer."
Speakers at this year's event included:
Mark Simmonds MP, Minister for Africa, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (UK); Haruna Jalo-Waziri, Nigerian Stock Exchange; Goolam Ballim, Chief Economist, Standard Bank; and Graham Stock, Chief Strategist, Insparo Investment Management.
Participating companies are: Bank of Kigali, Dangote Cement, Diamond Bank, Ecobank Group, Econet Wireless, Endiama, ERHC Energy, Food Concepts, G Cell Wireless, Guaranty Trust Bank, Seven Energy, Sahara Group and Zambeef.
