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Wrap Up: HBS 12th Annual Africa Business Conference

If you missed the 12th Africa Business Conference hosted by the Africa Business Club at Harvard Business School, this past weekend, no worries - we've got you covered. It was an awesome two days, filled with information and entertainment, people from all over, engaging over and sharing their experiences regarding the opportunities on the continent and within the community. From the fashion show and Naeto C concert to the wrap up party, good times seemed to be had by all. Without going into the minute by minute occurances, I'll run down some of the highlights of the event, from start to finish :: FRIDAY :: Fashion Show: Before the two featured lines, MOSHOOD & Chi Chi & Chi Chi E's O di Line, came out, there was an awesome slide show presentation of african fashion - pictures ranging from the more traditional/cliche'ic looks that come to mind when you think 'Africa" and "Fashion" to the more contemporary, western inspired 'fits that now grace runways from Paris to New York. Great to see the diversity. After that, and a little entertainment from the hosts, male models wearing MOSHOOD came out. Lots of shirtless, good looking men in tailored, pajama-esque pants. Needless to say us ladies enjoyed the eye candy.  Also sprinkled in were well made whole outfits.  Chi Chi & Chi Ch E's O di Line was then presented, with a series of woman's outfits that ranged from simple to sexy, day to night. Beautiful pieces of clothing and it's no wonder the line has been featured by Haute Magazine, the Tyra Banks show and in other notable arenas. Check out a few pics from both shows below: [flickr album=72157623379703747 num=20 size=Thumbnail] Naeto C Concert: After the fashion show and a short intermission, Naeto C came out and performed for the crowd and of course, there was a contingent of women shouting, taking pictures and enjoying. But there was also that the section of the room with a lot of 'too cool for school' folks. lol you know what I mean, people calmly bumping their heads, subtly swaying to the music because they are just too cool to openly rock to the music.  It only lasted for a little while though - by the time "Kini Big deal" came on, most people were open and having a good time.  *Sidenote on Mr. C - He was great. Dealt with the initial lukewarm reception very well, cracking jokes, made comments like how great the crowd was and how he had heard people come to the conference to find their wives/husbands. He even did a little one two-step for us though his dancing skills are...interesting. Good times. Pictures from his concert:[flickr album=72157623504697386 num=5 size=Thumbnail] :: SATURDAY :: Saturday's agenda consisted of 3 keynote speakers, 3 panel sessions, lunch, a banquet and an after party. There were plenty of panels to choose from to feed you're appetite for the happenings on the continent and I ended up at three - the private equity panel, the media and entertainment panel and the new faces of entrepreneurship panel.  Highlights below

• Private Equity and the African Growth Story - Panelists included Hurely Dody (ECP), Yemi Lalude (Adlevo Capital) and Seyi Owoduni (Kingdom Zephyr); moderated by Folabi Ayoola (Octave Partners).  Basically, the gist of this panel was that PE was good before the recession when Africa was growing at about 6%. Right now, not so much. And it will probably take 2-5 years for the economies to recover.  Most PE firms are looking at strengthening the businesses within their portfolios rather than taking on new businesses but that is subject to change once growth starts up again.  Also, most PE firms have been investing generally, not sector specific, though when asked to predict the future of PE in AFrica, a panelist said that the trend will probably move towards sector specialization - investing in tech, or agriculture, etc.  The panelists also talked abotu the challeneges to PE in AFrica - including changing the mentality of family owned business owners to see how PE investment could benefit them.  But as one panelist said - as soon as the money comes in, people very quickly start to appreciate the value.  Overall, very knowledgeable individuals who were candid about the challenges and opportunities.

• Media and Entertainment: An Emerging Tide of Creative Opportunities - On the panel were Mark Walton (EVP of The Africa Channel), Toyin Subair (Founder of HiTV) and Naeto C and it was very well moderated by  Prof. Anita Elberse. Great panel and the main takeaway was that people who are interested in media and entertainment need to be apart of really building the industry.  Distribution and capitalization were the buzzwords  - artists, creatives, soon to be execs needed more outlets to distribute their creative content and money & resources invested to create quality content.  As Mr. Subair noted, there's so much to do so its not for lack of work.  As many eluded to if interested, you didn't even have to come up with something new, just copy what's in America and tailor it to Africa!  A panelist also mentioned how a lot of the money for investment in Africa was being thrown into oil, financial sector, etc, but media and entertainment were real formidable areas for investment and all that is necessary to build the sector was human capital. Very interesting thoughts.  Mr. Walton was very vocal from the outset, noting that now was the time to get involved and create the documentaies, the movies, the music, the shows. Naeto C talked about his experience as an artist, how he was advised early on to make his music more in line with the audience tastes - that being, more AFrican.  One thing he mentioned that really stood out to me was the fact that people are way past the western stuff.  Africans are intersted in being African and celebrating their culture and and themselves.  Music to our ears. The issue of piracy was also touched, but that went back to creating better distribution methods and systems.

• The New Face of Entrepreneurship in Africa - This panel started off well. On the panel was Lawrence Achigbu (Chimons Group), Bruce Ayonote (Subruban West Africa), Obinna Ekezie (Zeep Travel Network), Peter Mombaur (Africa Holdings & co-founder of the African Leadership Academy) and Chukwuka Monye (Ciuci Consulting), all entrepreneurs who covered the spectrum in terms of when they started their businesses and what stage there were currently in. Basically the y let us know that its hard work and no one should expect to touch down in Lagos and the money would start flowing. Not going to happen.  As Mr. Ayonote mentioned, the only thing standing between your success and your aspirations is yourself. No one can tell you what to do . You have to know what you want to do, who you want to be and work to fill whatever apparent gaps.  Mr. Ekezie, a former NBA player, told us about how a lot of physical work on the ground had to be done to set up his business and how it took a while to establish trust among customers.  Rather than pay on line or over the phone, Zeep customers would come into the physical office with payment just to make sure everything was real!   Mr. Monye talked about how business was a process and a key to his success was getting decent people in place first. What stole the show at the end were the answers to the last question presented: What were the panelists views on a woman accomplishing the things they had accomplished in Africa. I tweeted some of the responses, including the comment that "women's faces opens doors," and how women might be better suited for "NGOs" or being "Picassos;"  As you may imagine, lots of quite outrage bubbled throughout the room, as females in the audience whispered things like, "what about my education? my experience?!" In general, the idea seemed to be that it's significantly more difficult for women to be successful entrepreneurs because oftentimes society isn't fair to female businesspersons, but it has and can be done.

The keynote addresses were all excellent, starting with Haskell Ward (Senior VP of SEACOM) in the morning, Tope Lawani (Co-founder of Helios Investment Partners) at noon and Dr. Anna Mokgokong (Exec. Chairperson of Community Investment Holdings). The session with Mr. Lawani was moderated by Prof. Calestous Juma and felt very much like a great conversation rather than a lecture.  Though many of the points he made were well received, one that stood out to me in particular was a comment he made about business and enterprise being the key to sustainable economic development on the continent. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go to the banquet, at which Mr. Lawani received the ABC Leadership Excellence Award.  I was however, able to make it to the after party and DJ Obi was on, spinning a mix of African and American music.  At one point, Naeto C came up and performed his verse on the Lagos Party remix which was fun.  All in all, nice wrap up to a great two days.  Should mention that the event's platinum sponsor was Arise, a publication of ThisDay and attendees received the current issue of Arise, along with other goodies. So that's all folks, the run down of what went on. Glad I went - the atmosphere and general feeling was positive and energizing. But this is just my perspective, so if you went and went to different panels, maybe a whole different perspective, add it in the comments section - enquiring minds want to know!