US-Africa Leaders : Summit Building Partnerships To Forster Innovation

After taking off the day of Sunday to get the pool of events and various concerns to be raised at the US-Africa Leaders Summit that officially opens today in the United States of America, President Paul Biya attended a two-hour roundtable discussion at a place called The Gathering Spot situated at 1720 Street in NW Washington D.C. from 4PM Washington time which was about 10PM in Yaounde. Participants at the session were mostly government officials, investors, business leaders, and members of the civil society interested in partnering with Africa to encourage economic growth. 
Co-organised by the Milken Institute and Invest Africa-US, the dialogue focused on ways to explore; “How finance can be a force for good in addressing Africa’s most pressing challenges and opportunities.” The discussions also looked at ways of “advancing impact and innovation on the continent while addressing global challenges and achieving shared global goals.” The various topics tackled included sustainable financing, access to capital, and investing with impact so as to ensure economic and social mobility. 
President Paul Biya who came just after his Ghanaian counterpart, President Nana Akuffo Addo highlighted the importance of local processing of raw materials in Africa so as to avoid capital flight. On his part, the President of Ghana who had opened discussions moderated by Elizabeth Littlefield dwelt much on the youthful population of Africa that needs to be provided with descent jobs, the readiness of the continent to accept partners that will help solve the huge infrastructure deficit in Africa, adding that those who fail to join such a train should not complain when the people make their deve...