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Main navigation Johns Hopkins Legacy Online programs Faculty Directory Experiential studying Career resources Alumni mentoring program Util Nav CTA CTA Breadcrumb First Student-run Africa Business Conference Stresses Connectivity, Networking It is the second largest continent in the world, bigger than the United States, China, and Europe mixed. Its $1.four trillion in consumer spending surpasses that of a more populous India. It is poised to become the world’s largest free-commerce area, with 400+ firms posting revenues in extra of $1 billion. Yet the economic development and potential of Africa stays an under-told story on the world stage. The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School’s scholar-run Africa Business Club is hoping to spark a change in the narrative. That was the thrust behind this yr’s Africa Business Conference, sponsored by the club and held at Carey’s Harbor East campus January 24 and 25, 2020. Building on the momentum of the Mzuzah Convergence 2018 Conference, additionally held at Carey, this year’s convention brought experts and policy-shapers on African development together with school, college students, alumni, and t he Carey community at giant. The convention got down to obtain a variety of targets, chief amongst them to educate, connect, and present curious, like-minded individuals in the area and past, the instrumental function Johns Hopkins has in advancing the fact of African business. More than one hundred individuals from the African continent and diaspora attended the convention, along with representatives from other Johns Hopkins divisions in addition to Carey, together with SAIS, the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the Whiting School of Engineering, the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Medicine, and the School of Nursing. The convention’s theme “Africa’s Place in an Increasingly Global Network,” featured five panel discussions tethered to that focus, together with the Plenary Panel, Afro Tech, Energy & Infrastructure, Healthcare Innovation, and Africa-China Relations. Keynote speaker for the conference was Eleni Gabre-Madhin, chief happiness officer, Blue M oon (Ethiopia’s first youth agriculture enterprise incubator), and former CEO of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX). Her feedback spoke to the ability of social media in connecting folks and spreading ideas, especially in relation to the burgeoning economic alternatives in Africa. “I refer to the present technology as ‘Generation C’ for linked, as a result of by way of the power of social media desires and ideas aren't any different,” she said. “Once shortly an excellent idea becomes a company that can change the world,” she added. Rhoda Weeks-Brown, basic counsel and director of the Legal Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF), was one of three plenary speakers. Her focus was on the important significance of creating connections, particularly early in one’s profession. “Your community is your web worth,” Gabre-Madhin informed these in attendance. She then challenged her viewers: “Are you tapped into the right networks to effect change? Do you have th e humility to build it? That’s why we need more conferences like this to speak and to work via these points.” In all, 20 speakers from Africa and its diaspora spoke on the convention. Ernest Nyarko (MBA ‘20, Dean’s Scholar); along with James Gyenes (MBA ‘20); and Mahamed Konfrou (MBA ‘20) served as convention co-chairs, and along with different scholar volunteers labored tirelessly over the past number of months to make the conference a reality. “The Africa Business Conference right here at Hopkins is an engine,” Nyarko observed, “one that interprets concepts into conversations and conversations hopefully into actions that advance consciousness and pursuit of business and careers in Africa beginning with Hopkins.” Already, Nyarko and his student colleagues are trying towards the future. “Our membership plans to make the Africa Business Conference at Hopkins an annual affair … We are working toward a case competition and profession honest that we hope will con nect startups and companies in emerging markets in Africa with students at Hopkins,” he mentioned. Nyarkoadded that a potential student trek to these emerging markets can also be an aspiration of the group’s. The Carey Business School’s Africa Business Club exists to champion business and careers in Africa throughout the Johns Hopkins community. Its activities are professional, educational, and social in nature, and are open to all members of Johns Hopkins. At the core, the membership is pushed by a bunch of graduate college students with a ardour for the persevering with economic, cultural, and social growth of Africa. Posted a hundred International Drive