… Adedayo Amzat, Others to Speak on ‘Financing the Startup, Policy for Investment’ in Africa

Africa's new-age principal investing and financial solutions powerhouse, Zedcrest Group will serve as a silver sponsor of the 20th edition of Africa Business Summit (ABS) taking place at the London Business School, United Kingdom on Saturday, 14th May 2022.

The Africa Business Summit has established itself as a leading forum for shaping an integrated and innovative perspective on Africa’s future. The Summit is a student-led initiative of the London Business School (LBS) that attracts an audience of over 500 investors, policymakers, business leaders, professionals, diaspora, students, and alumni.

In a statement issued by Zedcrest, the company explained that its decision to sponsor the summit was borne out of the need to promote an inclusive economy in Africa and to further extend the company’s prosperity inclusion advocacy to Africans in diaspora, and foreign investors.

According to Adedayo Amzat, Group Managing Director, Zedcrest Group, “With 70% of Africa's population under the age of 30, the continent is really the last frontier for global companies and investors hunting for the next big markets to deploy both capital and products.

“The continent has also witnessed a huge leap in the quantum and quality of entrepreneurial efforts, particularly in the emerging technology world. African founders have proven that they are world-class in applying innovative technologies in solving our everyday problems. However, the local capital markets haven't developed enough to facilitate this growth, leading to a disproportionate reliance on foreign capital.

“Domestic capital pools from the Banks, Pension Funds, Asset Managers and HNIs will need to be mobilised to support the growth of innovation on the continent”, he said.

He opined that the number of deals and funding in African startups has been growing over the last few years, and the ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) could also boost the African startup ecosystem by creating the biggest Free Trade Area in the world.

The Summit themed: ‘Africa Post-Pandemic: Unlocking the Next Frontier of Growth’, will have Abdourahmane Cissé, Minister, Secretary General, Presidency of Ivory Coast and Juliet Ehimuan, Director, Google West Africa as keynote speakers.

Panel speakers for the plenary sessions are Adedayo Amzat, Group Managing Director, Zedcrest; Admassu Tadesse, President of TDB Group; Serge Ekué, President at BOAD (West African Development Bank); Kudazyi Hove, Entrepreneur and Board Member; Caleb Usoh, Country Director (Nigeria) at OCP SA; Ido Sum, Partner at TLcom Capital; Jonathan Brenton, Head of International Trade at Pernod Ricard; Dr. Davis Musinguzi, Co-Founder & CEO at Rocket Health; Eren Kelekci, Chief Investment Officer, Food and Agriculture at African Development Bank Group.

Other speakers include Habiba Ben Barka, Chief of Africa Section at UNCTAD; Colin Coleman, Former CEO Goldman Sachs SSA, Yale Fellow; Fani Titi, CEO at Investec; Joseph-Alain Saraka, Chief Strategy Officer at ARISE; Peter Nyeko, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Mandulis Energy; Ibrahim Sagna, Director Advisory & Capital Markets at Afrexim; Mohamed Dabbour, CEO at Aesthina Partners Ltd and Thione Niang, Founder at JeufZone Farm.

Zedcrest Group (“Zedcrest Capital” or “Zedcrest”) is the parent company of Zedvance Finance Limited, a leading consumer lending firm; Zedcap Partners, a foremost securities brokerage firm engaging in the broking of financial products in sub-Saharan Africa Over-the-counter (OTC) Fixed Income and currencies markets (FICC). Zimvest, an asset management firm licensed by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is also a subsidiary of the Group.

Zedcrest was recently recognised as the fastest-growing firm in Nigeria’s financial services sector, second fastest-growing company in the country and the fifth fastest-growing in Africa in the 2022 Financial Times ranking for Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies published on its official website.

The company was also recognized as the 2022 Best Proprietary Investments Firm in Nigeria by International Business Magazine, a Dubai-based business and financial reporting publication.

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