France-Africa: Morocco & Senegal to host 4th edition of “Rencontres Africa”

Morocco and Senegal will host this year’s edition of “Rencontres Africa”, an economic event that brings together French and African business leaders.

The event, considered, “the most important Africa-focused business gathering, brings together business leaders, investors, project leaders and policy makers from France more than 30 African countries.

This 4th edition will take place October 21-22 in Morocco and October 24-25 in Senegal.

According to the organizers, the choice of Morocco and Senegal to host this year’s event meets the expectations of visitors of previous editions as expressed in a major survey conducted in October 2018, to know their two strategic African destinations for 2019.

This is the second time that the Rencontres Africa will be held on the African continent in order to ‘perpetuate the spirit of reciprocity,’ according to organizers who note that French and African business leaders will have an opportunity to promote their business relationships and build new collaborative partnerships.

Organized by the French group Classe Export, the facilitator of international trade, these meetings aim to facilitate contacts between African and French companies, encourage exchanges, upgrade partnerships, and discuss ways for accelerating growth and job creation.

The Moroccan Agency for Investment and Export Development (AMDIE) and Senegal’s Agency for the Promotion of Investments (APIX) are co-organizers of the meeting.

As a reminder, France is a strong trade and investment partner for Africa. French President Emmanuel Macron has pledged earlier this year to invest €2.5 billion ($2.8 billion) in Africa in financing and supporting startups and small- to medium-sized enterprises by 2022.

Dubbed Choose Africa, the French government would support about 10,000 enterprises across the continent by providing credit, technical support and equity financing.

The funds will be mobilized via the French Development Agency and its private sector financing arm, Proparco.