Irish Africa Business Council

To achieve the goal and mission set out here, an Irish Africa Business Council needs to established in order to achieve key practical objectives, namely:

  • Provide persistence and continuity in stakeholder meetings

  • Conduct research into trade potential and challenges
  • Represent business, embassies, Department & key agencies
  • Promote business engagement in AADP, EU Africa Alliance etc.
  • Leverage Ireland’s central position in EU (common law, English as language of business) to promote best practice engagement models with Africa.
  • Leverage Ireland’s positive legacy in Africa, “hidden” infrastructure and good model for growth and investment to help African investment and trade

To promote business engagement
we need to promote three key facts about African development, namely:

Urbanisation

12% African pop. = 50% of GDP (CSIS)
Africa rapidly urbanising. New clusters.

Political Stability

Africa is changing: Abiy Ahmed (Ethiopia) Nobel prize

Infrastructure

Inventorise key investments and strategic corridors

The 5 most promising sectors for engagement with Africa are as follows:

  • Agri Food

  • Health, MedTech and BioPharma

  • Energy

  • Infrastructure: Roads, Housing and Broadband

  • Finance (Microfinance)