Dear Friends,

We would like to welcome you to the 9th Annual Africa Business Conference at the Harvard Business School. As part of our welcome, we would like to ask two questions.

What is different about today's African economic resurgence when compared to previous ones?

On the surface, it seems like another commodity based boom. A closer look reveals a consumer base of more than 900 million people, the highest returns on direct foreign investment in the world, success stories of sustained annual economic growth, improved national governance, and an entrepreneurial spirit demonstrated every day.

Our theme, "Integrating Africa into the Global Economy", reflects our belief that recent developments on the continent are part of a permanently changing paradigm. In this paradigm, global human and electronic networks, transnational capital flows, and dedicated human activity are binding Africa to the rest of the global economy in unique and interesting ways. For the first time both private and public investors are focusing on Africa and professionals and other workers are exploring and capitalizing on professional options at home, leveraging resources across and beyond Africa. The beauty of the investments being made now is that we are yet to see all the results, but current events are promising.

How do we move forward?

We welcome business professionals, policy makers, thought leaders and students to share insights on and debate new approaches and strategies to develop African economies and businesses not just as national actors but as part of the global economy. We intend to explore and highlight ways of viewing recent changes to fully understand what has happened, lessons learned in the course of events, and paths that can be taken in the future. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from speakers who are some of the protagonists of Africa's past, current and future events, while enjoying spirited discussions with panelists with a broad range of exposure to issues in Africa.

We look forward to having you join us in our exploration of this new paradigm for Africa's growth, and we hope you come away from the conference with the same amount of optimism about the future.

Regards,

Karamath Adamon                              Niyi Omojola
Conference Co-Chairs, 2007 Africa Business Conference