The event was held alongside the UNGA and right after the US – Africa Business Forum (USABF) which was organized by Bloomberg and the United States department of Commerce.

The Chairman of UBA, Tony Elumelu was host to over 200 global leaders with Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker as the guest of honour at the event.

Elumelu who had spoken at the USABF earlier that day after President Obama’s address, re –emphasised that America needs to expand and scale up their policies in Africa and not necessarily make changes to what they are doing on the continent.

He thanked the audience and especially Secretary Pritzker and the U.S department of Commerce for their support to Africa.

Pritzker on her part, acknolwledged and thanked her colleagues at the department of Commerce. She commended Tony Elumelu saying “Tony is an incredible entrepreneur and pivotal to U.S-Africa business relations. He is a great friend of the U.S.”

Also in attendance at the event were, former president of Nigeria, President Olusegun Obasanjo; Senior Political Analyst, Professor David Gergen; Chairman US EX-IM bank, Fred Hochberg; President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Elizabeth Littlefield; U.S Executive Director at the World Bank, Mathew Mcguire; CEO UBA, Kennedy Uzoka.

Others include former CNN anchor, Zain Verjee; Vice Chairman, corporate council on Africa, Ambassador Robert Perry; Founding President Devex, Raj Kumar; CEO of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Olusegun Awolowo; CEO, President of the Business Council for International Understanding, Peter Tichansky amongst others.

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The Group Managing Director/CEO, UBA Plc, Phillips Oduoza, who stated this, said that, much of the challenges of financing growth and development on the continent lie in the hands of financial institutions, working in collaboration with international development finance institutions, investors, and private equity firms particularly from the US.

Speaking in Washington DC, the UBA boss said the three-day summit will impact positively on helping to change the information asymmetries about Africa in the US and the rest of the world.

Beyond the negative press about the continent in the western media, Oduoxa said there are a lot of positive developments in Africa, with stable democracies in most countries, improved business climates and abundant investment opportunities in agriculture, power, transportation, telecommunications, energy and other sectors.

“As one of the largest banks on the continent, with operations in 19 African countries, we have made huge investments in these countries and have continued to grow our business as well as contributing to the finance and developmental needs of these countries” he stated.

Describing the summit as the largest gathering of investors, financiers, businessmen and political leaders from Africa and the US, the UBA boss commended President Obama, US, Commerce Secretary, Penny Pritzker and Bloomberg for organising and making the conference a reality. “Though long overdue. It is better late than never” said Oduoza

President Obama, who also participated in the Business Forum along with Secretary Pritzker and Mayor Bloomberg, as well as other senior U.S. government officials, said Africa is a fundamental part of our interconnected world and partners with America, noting that the partnership between USA and Africa “must be grounded in mutual responsibility and mutual respect.”

He called on Africa leaders to strengthen their democracies and democratic institutions to encourage investment inflow into the continent.

Held at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C., the U.S.-Africa Business Forum aimed to intensify efforts to strengthen trade and financial ties between the United States and Africa, and to create partnerships that will promote trade, accelerate job growth, and encourage investment. US companies and institutions announced $33 billion investment into Africa during the summit.

African leaders engaged with business executives from both sides of the Atlantic in conversations about successes and solutions to increase trade with and invest in Africa.

President Obama also participated in the conversation with CEOs and government leaders from the United States and Africa.

Oduoza, who participated actively at the Forum, also used the opportunity to have one-on-one business meetings with top US company executives seeking investment opportunities in Africa.

Other top Nigerian companies and government institutions at the event were; Heirs Holdings, chaired by Tony Elumelu, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), A-Post, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dangote Industries, Global Infrastructure Partners, Main One Cable Company, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

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Both leaders who spoke at a gathering of business leaders in Lagos on Wednesday, said that the two countries have come a long way in bilateral relationship, adding that increasing the investment interests will further ensure that maximum opportunities that abound in the two economies are properly tapped into.

Pritzker, who is leading 20 American companies on an Energy Business Development trade mission to Ghana and Nigeria, said American companies would invest in countries that observe the rule of law, follow ethical standards and have good work environments.

“Nigeria needs to take the tough steps that allow businesses to truly thrive. Our companies want to do business in countries that follow the rule of law, maintain ethical standards, abide by workplace safety, encourage workforce training and protect intellectual property” she stated.

She also maintained that businesses must operate freely and devoid of unnecessary regulation, government interference and corruption stating that “these are the conditions that will increase confidence among international and local business leaders and encourage further investments in Nigeria.”

The Commerce Secretary also advised the government to sign the Government Procurement Agreement of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and urged the Nigerian Government, business and civil society leaders to join hands in developing home grown solutions to challenges facing the country.

“I believe that together we can, must, and will move toward strengthening our security, promote democracy, spur more trade, investment and economic opportunity to benefit Nigerian citizens,” she said.

Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Holdings and Founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, who spoke on behalf of the private sector, said the visit was very strategic and underscores the importance that the US attaches to Nigeria.

“While the Nigerian people are proud that our oil is helping to power the biggest economies in the world, we are about so much more than oil resources, we are about agriculture; we are about telecoms; we are about real estate and hospitality; we are about entertainment; we are about banking and financial services and so much more,” Elumelu said.

Acknowledging that there have been sectoral reforms and rebuilding of regulatory capacity by the Nigerian Government, Elumelu said that efforts are being made to tackle the manufacturing sector which at just five per cent of the national economy has a lot of room for growth.

“We need investors and partners and technical expertise to develop our supply chains, infrastructure and work force skills and American firms and entrepreneurs can help us to accomplish this and gain significant value for themselves,” Elumelu said.

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The partial risk guarantee is a risk-sharing mechanism that provides banks with a partial coverage of risk exposure against loans made for energy efficiency projects.

This is contained in a statement issued by Olawale Rasheed, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of State for Power, Mohammed Wakil on Saturday in Abuja.

The statement quoted Wakil as saying this at a discussion on Power Sector in Africa organised by the U.S. Department of Commerce in Miami, Florida.

According to the minister, the fund is domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the World Bank.

The minister, in his keynote address at the event, said the Federal Government had lined up series of incentives to strengthen investors’ confidence and guarantee return on investment in the sector.

He said that waivers and tax holidays had also been put in place for power equipment importation for generation, transmission and distribution.

He assured investors that return on their investment was guaranteed, saying that very attractive tariffs regime had been put in place for investors in renewable energy sector.

“The government of Nigeria has achieved what industry experts described as one of the most holistic, ambitious and transparent privatisations of power assets in recent times.

“The distribution and generation assets have all been successfully handed over to the private sector since November 2013,” the minister said.

On the Power Africa initiative sponsored by the U.S., he said that Nigeria was poised to take advantage of the initiative as a strategic opportunity for securing the much-needed investment in the sector.

Wakil explained that a Power Africa Desk had since been established at the Federal Ministry of Power to serve as a one- stop-shop for stakeholders in the industry.

According to him, the desk is to attract investments to the Nigerian power sector based on funding and technical assistance provided by the Government of the U.S.

The statement quoted the U.S. Department of Commerce as saying that next month, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Penny Pritzker, would embark on a trade mission to Nigeria, Ghana and Ethiopia to promote U.S. exports to Africa.

“This is with a view to helping U.S. companies launch or increase their businesses in the energy sector in West Africa,” it said.

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