NAIROBI, Kenya | 8 April 2018 – This year’s Africa Shared Value Summit will bring business changemakers and thought leaders together in Nairobi on 23-24 May 2019. Speakers drawn from across the African continent make for an exciting programme, featuring tracks focusing on Africa’s most important industries: agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, the environment and health care.

“Shared Value is the next major evolution of business thinking that will drive productivity and competitive advantage in the global economy,” noted Mark Kramer and Prof. Michael Porter in one of their foundational Harvard Business Review articles on Shared Value. The Summit will see acclaimed Harvard economist Kramer return as keynote speaker. Mark is Co-Founder and Managing Director of FSG and the author of influential publications on Shared Value, catalytic philanthropy, collective impact, strategic evaluation, and impact investing.

With over 30 years of commercial experience in the telecommunications sector, Robert “Bob” Collymore, CEO of headline Summit sponsor Safaricom, has made it his mission to drive access to essential services through technology. “We cannot succeed in isolation,” he wrote in the 2018 Safaricom Sustainable Business Report, underlining the relevance of the Summit’s theme, Africa’s Business Growth – Grounded in Collaboration. “We need a ‘coalition of the willing’ to address these challenges.”

LADOL CEO Dr Amy Jadesimi, named Africa’s Young CEO of the Year 2018 by the Africa Leadership Forum, will be delivering the closing plenary at the Summit on 24 May, just one of the many female business leaders on the Summit’s diverse programme. In addition to her work at LADOL, an oil and gas fabrication and multi-logistics service based in Nigeria, she is passionate about the development of strategic infrastructure that will enable African countries to become leading global economies.

Energy will be a key theme at the Summit, as it is one of Africa’s most important industries. The vibrant and insightful Maria Cristina Papetti will be returning as a speaker in 2019 to discuss the future of energy, specifically within the context of the African continent. As a Senior Executive (CSV Sustainability Projects and Practice) at Enel, Papetti has been at the forefront of the energy company’s rise to the position of globally-acclaimed Shared Value pioneer.

It is crucial for business to become conscious of its environmental footprint. JCDecaux CEO Mark Cooper will be diving into how Shared Value thinking help businesses address the thirteenth UN Sustainable Development Goal, Climate Action, in the Summit track devoted to reimagining African environmental solutions. Mark is passionate about using Shared Value thinking to transform the business landscape and finding viable business opportunities in helping make cities safer and more efficient.

Business impact is driven by investment. Khanyi Chaba will be sharing insights from the financial solutions giant Old Mutual on the second day of the Summit. As Head of Responsible Business, Chaba is responsible for setting the company’s strategic direction and driving the implementation of the company sustainable development strategy in all Old Mutual Limited operations across Africa.

With agriculture and access to food being key issues on the continent, World Food Programme Deputy Executive Director Amir Abdulla is a speaker not to be missed. Abdulla will be delivering the opening address on the second day of the Summit, taking a look at the essential role of partnerships with civil society in business being able to drive Africa’s growth. Although business has an important role to play in innovating solutions for our continent, it cannot implement them alone. This theme will also be unpacked in the government panel on facilitating the creation of Shared Value ecosystems through partnerships.

Financial inclusion is an immense challenge currently facing Africa, and one where the link to business growth and sustainability is evident. Jeremy Awori, Managing Director of Absa in Kenya, will be sharing the bank’s journey to its current Shared Growth strategy, and how it has integrated Shared Value thinking into its business approach across the continent.

Shared Value thinking – the ability to see the business opportunity in driving the creation of a better world through the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals – is key to Africa becoming the economic powerhouse of the twenty-first century. To see more of the 2019 speaker line-up – and for all booking information – visit the Summit website www.africasharedvaluesummit.com. The Summit is proudly sponsored by Safaricom, Old Mutual, Enel, Absa, JCDecaux and the World Food Programme, and supported by media partners Channel Africa, CNBC Africa and SAfm.

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About the Summit:

The Africa Shared Value Summit aims to raise awareness and advocate for the success of the strategic implementation of the Shared Value business model – profit with purpose – in Africa. The 2019 Summit, which will take place at the Radisson Blu in Nairobi, Kenya, will focus on the importance of Shared Value ecosystems in driving Africa’s business growth. Hear from business thought leaders and changemakers about how Shared Value thinking can take business to the next level and make Africa an economic powerhouse. Engage on the pressing issues facing African businesses with speakers at Q & A sessions and breakaway discussions. Plus, the Shared Value 101 Masterclass offers the opportunity to take a deep dive into the business case for making the shift to profit with purpose.

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About the Organisers:

The Shared Value Africa Initiative (SVAI) is a Non-Profit Organisation that aims to build a collaborative Shared Value network to accelerate sustainable change on our continent. The SVAI is the regional partner of the global Shared Value Initiative, the Australian Shared Value Project, the Hong Kong Shared Value Project, and Shared Value Initiative India.

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Shift creates and facilitates partnerships, initiatives and collaborations that drive social impact in Africa. We build and utilize our network to connect business, civil society, philanthropic foundations, non-profit organisations and government departments to leverage the resources to create inclusive growth and collective social impact at scale, aligned to the un sustainable development goals.

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