EMRC and PanAAC Call Industry Leaders and Civil Society to Partner for the AgriBusiness Forum 2012 as Africa’s Agri-Food Sector Becomes Essential for Global Development

Brussels, Belgium, October 21, 2012 --(PR.com)-- The annual pan-African AgriBusiness Forum will be held this year in Dakar, Senegal from 25-28 November 2012 under the official patronage of the Government of Senegal, bringing together the sector’s major figures, renown experts, industrialists, financiers, donors, SMEs, small hold farmers as well as multinationals and civil society partners to address “Boosting Africa’s Agriculture through Partnership, Investment and Technology”.

Co-organised by UNDP, co-organisers of AgriBusiness Forum 2011 in Johannesburg, PanAAC and EMRC, and in collaboration with FAO and Rabobank, AgriBusiness Forum 2012 provides a pan-African platform for private, public sector and civil society representatives to present their visions and goals in addition to the Agricultural Exhibition and B2B sessions guaranteeing an environment conducive to launching new partnerships.

The forum will spotlight the financing of Africa’s agriculture, with a session entitled ‘How to Finance African Agriculture’. “African bankers will come/join to discuss these issues. To ensure that the African private sector is engaged in Agribusiness and Agro-industry, it must be organised and mobilised. This is why the Pan African Agribusiness and Agro-Industry Consortium (PanAAC) has been created in 2007 in Johannesburg," explains Moussa Seck, PanAAC Chairman.

Public-private partnerships are imperative for leveraging the needed funds; sharing the risks of investments; and working together in partnership. Furthermore, developing private-public partnerships can strengthen democratic institutions of governance, open markets, mobilize and use development resources more effectively.

With over 400 professionals expected to attend, the AgriBusiness Forum 2012 is spotlighting issues that affect countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. As The Guardian highlighted this week, “Now, the talk is of African lions, six of the world's 10 fastest-growing economies, a booming middle class, a slew of natural resource discoveries, the next frontier for investors – not aid donors. A new Africa[i].”

“Public-Private Partnership is the most significant step that can be taken to ensure sustainability, which has always been part of EMRC mantra. This year’s forum will be an extension of last year’s, where we witnessed Prime Ministers, multinationals, civil society and farmers discussing and envisioning the future of their continent together,” explains Idit Miller, VP & Managing Director at EMRC International.

“We are also highlighting three key issues, which must be considered in order to find real success. Partnership, investment and technology bring much needed funds, expertise and cooperation which no country, region, continent can do without,” adds Caterina Giuliano, EMRC Sr Programme Manager.

Considered one of the meetings of the year in Africa, the Forum is an important opportunity for businesses to share their ambitions for Africa’s Agri-Food sector. Africa contains some 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land. Through the fostering of the private sector Africa has the potential to double its cereal yields and grow an extra 100 mln tons of food a year. This would be roughly equivalent to adding another US corn belt to world food production, helping moderate world food price increases, allowing Africa to become a region of food surplus and helping eradicate hunger and poverty[ii].