Dr. Donald Kaberuka, President, Africa Development Bank Group will headline the 2014 Africa CEO Round-table & Conference on Corporate Sustainability & Responsibility (AR-CSR™) as Keynote Speaker. This year’s event, the fourth in series, is scheduled to take place from June 19-20, 2014 in Calabar. AR-CSR 2014 will focus on Financial Inclusion with the theme: “The Intersection: Financial Inclusion, Economic Sustainability & Social Benefit.”
Some of the expected speakers are Duncan Onyango of Acumen Africa, Kenya, Andrew Niven of PWc, Alex Otti, MD/CEO Diamond Bank Plc, Ayo Teriba, Macr-Economic Expert from Nigeria, William Derban of Fidelity Bank Ghana and Henrietta Onwuegbuzie of Lagos Business School.
Dr. Donald Kaberuka is currently serving his second five-year term as President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). He was first elected in 2005, becoming the seventh president of the Bank Group since its establishment in 1963. He was re-elected in May 2010 at the AfDB’s headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, for a second five-year term. He took the oath for his second term in September of that year in Tunis, the Bank’s current temporary relocation city. The Bank moved temporarily from Abidjan in 2003 due to the security situation there. Kaberuka was educated at universities in Tanzania and Scotland. He holds a PhD in Economics from Glasgow University.
The AR-CSR™ platform remains relevant in discussing issues of Sustainable Corporate and Economic Development, Sustainability, Corporate Social Responsibility, as well as the enhancement of a public-private synergy for the attainment of a credible business environment in Africa.
A statement by the conveners, ThistlePraxis Consulting, read: ‘the correlation between financial inclusion and economic growth has long been widely recognized however despite broad consensus on the importance of access to finance as a powerful poverty alleviation tool and substantial financial sector reforms in Africa, it is estimated that nearly half the continents households continue to be excluded from the formal financial sector’. Financial inclusion, which advances universal access to appropriate and affordable financial services, is crucial to inclusive growth. At the basic level, financial inclusion is effectively a measure of the extent to which economic agents in an economy utilize the financial services apparatus at their disposal, to effect the desired exchanges, and particularly, support the highest possible activity in the real economy. “
The 2014 edition will, therefore, seek to interrogate the intersection where financial inclusion fosters economic sustainability and enhances societal benefit. The financial industry plays a critical role for society at large: serving individuals, families, businesses, governments, civic institutions and other stakeholders. The sector performs indispensable functions such as enabling financial inclusion, facilitating saving and investment, providing protection from risks and supporting the creation of new jobs and enterprises. It is critical that the sector operates to provide these functions for society in a stable, sustainable way, and increases awareness of its activities in this area.
The 2014 edition of the AR-CSR™ is presented with support from Shell Nigeria, Diamond Bank, Heritage Bank, Obubra/Etung Federal Constituency Office and hosted by the Cross River State Government. Ventures Africa and Leadership Newspapers are Media Sponsors. Registrations have commenced in earnest for the event whilst the impressive live up of speakers and further details can be obtained from https://www.ar-csr.com.
ThistlePraxis Consulting is a Management Consulting firm that assists organizations in all sectors improve their organizational effectiveness and business operations to achieve sustainable growth and profitability through the delivery of innovative solutions, using effective strategies.
