GBF examines business landscape
DUBAI: Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) announced that it has concluded a series of six Global Business Forum (GBF) virtual roadshows, which examined the business landscape in emerging markets across East Africa, West Africa and Southern Africa, as well as high-potential investment opportunities emerging across the continent.
Several high-level focus groups were organised as part of the roadshows over the last six months, which were joined by over 60 prominent businessmen, trade officials and other stakeholders from a wide range of economic sectors in Africa.
The discussions highlighted key trends reshaping African economies in the wake of Covid-19, including the rise of e-commerce and digital economy, privatisation of the healthcare sector, economic diversification strategies, the changing banking landscape, the shit to regional integration led by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) and the development of agri-business sectors.
According to the participants, Dubai could be a distributor of electric vehicle components to Africa sourced from the US and China, and facilitator of digital trade on the continent. As a world-class financial hub, Dubai can offer African companies financial solutions from commercial debt, and cross-border solutions to bridge the finance gap in key African markets, they noted.
As a gateway to the wider Middle East for Africa, Dubai could serve as a hub for processing and packaging African food products, participants noted. The relocating of Africa conglomerates’ headquarters to the emirate was also highlighted as a practical way for such companies to atract finance to the continent.
In addition, atendees expressed their confidence in Dubai’s ability to channel businesses from all over the world into Africa, with existing opportunities spanning various sectors and areas, including tourism, education, logistics, cold storage, food wastage, finance, training, engineering and the certification for organic foods.