Africa Accelerating 2026

0:00 Distinguished delegates, we are live. Very good morning to each one of you gathered here in person. I have the good fortune of being with you as president of the Canada Africa Chamber of Business. You're in the heart of downtown Toronto at Goodman's LLP, our longstanding host since our founding in 1994. Thank you so much to Randy McCauley, who will be joining us momentarily. Special acknowledgement to the leadership from various governments present today, and of course, Assistant Deputy Minister for Pan-African Affairs at Global Affairs Canada, Cheryl Urban, joined by Andrew Hirst, Director General at the Pan-African Affairs Bureau, as well as several senior members of the team focused on trade and development engagement across the board. I'd also like to recognize various excellencies who will be with us throughout the day today in person.

0:45 Her Excellency Dora Francisca Eduwanda, thank you so much, from the Republic of Ghana. Excellency Dandi Somediallo, Ambassador of Burkina Faso, joined by the Premier-Counselor. And then Dr. Al-Khasa Lashar Dhafer for the head of the Libyan mission, Henry Lee joining us again from Malaysia, and retired Ambassador Greg Goldhawker continues to serve with distinction now as a member of our Senior Advisory Board. None of this happens today, as I call this gathering to order, without the generous support of sponsors, Companies who believe in the mission and the future of Canada-Africa trade and investment is deeply intertwined. And I'd like to recognize some of those in the room today. Zenith Bank, comprising our keynote speaker, represented by Dr. Kennedy Okwudili. Thank you so much for being with us. B2Gold's keynote address by Neil Reader, sponsors of our recent program in Namibia that preceded the excellent program we held in Lagos, Nigeria.

1:39 369 Global, McGill University's Sustainable Growth Initiative, and of course our gracious host, Goodman's LLP. For 33 years you've been with us. And then special mention of members in the room today, Kinross Gold, Mida, StoresPay, M1 Energy, Osenco, Hatch, Mine Africa, SGS, El Consulting, among others. Such a pleasure to have you with us. Thank you for your ongoing support. You know, many people end an illustrious career in public policy and in government and take the rightful rest that is owed to them. Not Paula Caldwell-Sanon, our board chair, who I'm about to invite up in a moment. I think We have kept Paula busier than ever, a well-known fixture in Ottawa, but increasingly across the African continent post your service as an ambassador representing Canada across the world. As our board chair, Paula Colbert-Senan chairs our members roundtables that take place in Ottawa every year, and well addresses as keynote speaker, as the highest ranking member of the chamber, events around the world. And that's really brought together new sponsors, new members, and an energy that is absolutely incredible. For the official welcome for day 2 of Africa Accelerating 2026, Retired Ambassador Paula Kordel-Sinanj.

2:49 Thank you. Thanks, Gareth. Good morning, Excellencies, Members and Guests, all protocols observed since Gareth has mentioned everyone in the room. Thank you for that. But welcome. This is the official welcome to Africa Accelerating 2026. And hello to all of you out there on the continent and across Canada listening to us today. As he said, my name is Paula Caldwell-Saint-Aunt. It is my privilege to be the chair of the board of the Canada-Africa Chamber of Business. But this chamber is really a collective effort and I wanna thank everyone in this room, especially my fellow board members present today. We have Wayne Floriani, who's our fixture. Everybody knows him from Mine Africa.

3:40 We have Randy McCauley, our partner, Goodman's LLP, that was mentioned before. Tister Blanche, who is our VP, Business Development in Osenco, and he's our treasurer. And of course, Matt Bliss is our new special advisor on the Lobito Corridor. And we have Gareth Bloor, which nothing, nothing would happen without our president, Mr. Gareth Bloor. I really would like to give him a round of applause. So I'm particularly pleased to have you here this morning. You've all journeyed from very far. You've traveled from Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt, and beyond. And everybody who could not attend this event in person, hello and welcome.

4:26 We're honored by the presence of the diplomatic community, and I just want to underline my friend, Her Excellency Dora Edouard of Ghana, because we have some important, we're going to have a mission in Ghana next year, early next year, and we also have the Invest in Ghana Summit coming up. So I just wanted to highlight that. We are also joined, of course, by our senior representatives of government, Cheryl Urban, who you'll hear from very soon, Andrew Hirst, who's the Director General, Pan African Affairs, and he's also the trade champion for Africa. So that's a title I want all of you to remember. And of course, he's got his super trade team with him. He's got Jason Reeves, Justine Namara, and Nadia.

5:11 So over there. So please, you know, go to them when you want to, when you want anything. Yeah, Those of you online, the phone number will come up soon. But it may be easier to conduct all of our business here in Canada, but you know we we choose not to. It's been quite a year, it's quite a busy year, whirlwind sometimes. It started in February with our 5th Canada Africa Business Conference in Namibia with B2 Gold and Neil Reader, you'll be hearing from him later on. A finance forum in Cape Town in May that was a huge success from the financial perspective and opened our eyes to many new opportunities.

5:56 Our 6th Canada Africa Business Conference that took us to Lagos in June and that was thanks to Zenith Bank here in the room and Garda World. And of course we had the Trade and Investment Dinner in Nairobi last month with the embassy, sponsored by Global 369, to launch their 3 magazine. And I encourage you all to pick up a copy of this magazine. It's on the African diaspora. We also have ventured to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, among others, you know, with all these recent events. And as I said, Ghana and Morocco are on the list for early next year. This matters because opportunities we discussed today, they're not in the abstract. We've actually gone to the capitals, they're grounded in the places we've visited, the companies we've actually met face to face, and the ministers that we've engaged in their own capitals. It gives us access and it helps us help our companies and our members.

6:50 So when a Canadian firm asks us about doing business in Accra, Lagos, Nairobi, Harare, Cape Town or Abidjan, we provide answers based on those real experiences. And I don't want to forget that the most important thing on the ground, of course, are our embassies and our high commissions. They're an incredible resource, people should use even more. We're refining that whole trade language and our relationship. The people gathered here are investing in payment infrastructure, financing, mining projects, exporting, educating the health sector and facilitating capital movement in both directions. What we are engaged in is a mutually beneficial trade. And today you'll hear from representatives on both sides of this relationship on financing and the barriers that still exist on entrepreneurship and the policies that enable it and on what Canadian companies have learned from delivering major projects across the continent, particularly in East Africa, where our recent work has taken us. So I ask one thing of you.

7:52 This is a great program, but it really is based on the relationships that you're gonna form and you're gonna make today. So please reach out to someone you don't know. And if you see somebody just alone in the corner, go to them and talk to them. Because you never know, that handshake may turn into a business opportunity in the next 18 months. So it's now, though, my privilege to invite Cheryl Urban, Assistant Deputy Minister for Africa at Global Affairs Canada, to address us. Cheryl leads Canada's diplomatic trade and development engagement across the continent and oversees the implementation of Canada's Africa Strategy, which launched in March of last year and established the Africa Trade Hub. Cheryl has a distinguished career in the public service and she's previously addressed our members here in Toronto. We're grateful for your presence, Cheryl. It means a lot to us. So please join me in welcoming her.

8:58 Good morning, everybody. Bonjour à toutes et à tous. Thank you so much, Paula. I'd like to thank the Chamber of Commerce. It's a really excellent event. Thank you, Paula, for your presentation. Thank you, Gareth, Zenith Bank, B2Gold and Goodmans, all of you are making today possible. This is, I've participated in this event several times and I always come back because this is good value and it's really an honour to be with a variety of people who are all working in their own way to improve Canada-Africa commercial relations. This is about partnerships, and partnerships really, really matter. And I like Africa Accelerating. It's something I look forward to every year. It's about building an ecosystem where we can turn conversations into real actual connections and then you take those connections and you turn that into business.

9:57 I often am talking about, and I have for several years, about the opportunity that Africa presents for Canada and for Canadian prosperity. And all of you, I don't need to talk about that with you because you already see the opportunity, you know what the potential is. So for now with us, with the existence of our Africa strategy, it's now time to act on it and to turn that into results and to turn that into deals. I like to begin when I talk, some of you already know this, but I like to begin a little bit about who I am and what I'm doing. So for 3 years, I have had the privilege of leading the Global Affairs Committee in Africa. I am the Assistant Deputy Minister for Africa at Global Affairs Canada. I'm now going into my fourth year in that role, and I've had the opportunity to be, to do business in over 20 countries on the continent to meet many interlocutors and I was privileged to be able to help create the Africa strategy and now to be able to still be here to implement it and to make it a real thing.

11:04 And that's what I'm focused on this year. Africa is dynamic, it's diverse, it's entrepreneurial. It is home to growing markets, sophisticated businesses, world-leaning innovation, and enormous human capital. There is growing interest on both sides. When I travel to Africa, I hear this from African stakeholders. They're interested in Canada, but oftentimes I hear, where is Canada? We want more of Canada. And the Africa Strategy was designed to help Canada to be there. But we're also at this point in time at a really important period in Canadian history. And you heard that from our own Prime Minister, for example, at Davos and then in some of his subsequent speeches. Canada right now, our government is focused on assuring Canadian prosperity and security, but also Canadian sovereignty.

11:58 We see ourselves as a middle power. We think that it's essential for us right now in this time to diversify our partnerships. It's important for us to diversify our trade. And we've set an ambitious goal to double our non-US exports over the next decade. Our Prime Minister is really clear with us, clear with me as an Assistant Deputy Minister that it is time to take action and it's time to act fast and that is the instruction that I am being given and that is how myself and my entire branch are operating. I can assure you that Global Affairs Canada is working very hard. Every person that we have in Ottawa, every person that we have that's working at a high commission or at an embassy in Africa is working extremely hard to make opportunities and to advance our collective objectives And we're doing so in a spirit within the Africa strategy, but also government of Canada-wide, which is about mutually beneficial peer-to-peer relationships. That is the spirit and the framework that is encapsulating what we're doing.

13:03 I also just want to also say that the Africa strategy and the way in which we're approaching how we engage was built on many, many consultations. It took place over a period of 2 years and actually it include the Canada Africa Chamber of Business as one of the avenues that came to provide input to us about what we should do. And actually many of the people in this room contributed ideas and thinking, and that's why the Africa strategy and our current approach looks the way it does. It's also, I just want to say a couple of things about what we've done in the meantime, because now we're a year and a half since the launch of the Africa Strategy, and I just want to say a couple of the things that we've accomplished so far. Nous renfonçons notre présence diplomatique. So we have opened a new High Commission and a new embassy.

13:52 Minister Anand, I was with her in August when she was in Benin to open our new embassy in Coteau-Nu. We are also opening up a new High Commission in Zambia, in Lusaka, and we'll have imminently an inauguration for that opening as well. Nous avons créé le pôle commercial pour l'Afrique. So we have a new Africa Trade Hub and we have some of the members of our Trade Hub that are with us here today. I'm very proud of this Trade Hub. It's allowed us to take our Trade Commissioner Service and others who are working on economic cooperation between Canada and Africa in one place under strong leadership to have 1 voice within our department and with the Canadian private sector. This is strengthening our capacity.

14:40 We are also looking at the entire toolkit of what we have within the government of Canada. And this is not simply just what we're doing under the Africa strategy, but you see this even under the leadership of our Prime Minister with the Strategic Exports Office. Canada is looking to use its Export Development Canada, Canadian Commercial Cooperation, FINDEV Canada, and Global Affairs Canada together in a more coordinated way, so that when we're looking at our exports and we're looking at our deals, we can do so using every tool that we have and so that we can support greater exports. And whether that's kind of big deals, really, really, really big ones that would be under the Strategic Exports Office, or it could be smaller scale ones that we can support through the Africa Trade Hub. We call that kind of a Team Canada approach, and we are getting better and better as a government at undertaking things that way.

15:41 There's also something that we launched as part of the Africa Strategy, which is called the Africa Trade and Development Nexus Program. And this is also how we're looking at international assistance. And Canada will continue to use its international assistance towards women's equality and supporting women and girls. It will continue to have leadership in areas such as health and education, where we have had good presence and had excellent partners in Africa. But it also means that we're using international assistance to also support projects where we can have mutually beneficial outcomes, including commercial outcomes. And that means that we can, for example, look at building a better investment environment through our investments in development, or it could be providing technical assistance to a certain ministry to help them to develop regulations that are better for trade and investment.

16:36 We have also had some high-level visits. So we had a visit of the Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area, and he met with our Foreign Minister. He met with Secretary of State Sarai as well. They had excellent conversations and really spoke about the promise of the African Consensus Free Trade Area and how Canada can support that. There are certainly in some parts of Africa, very meaningful implementation of the AFCFTA that are underway, and there may be ways in which Canada can partner so that we can help to support that. All of it is about understanding the local ecosystem. It's about finding the right partners, and it's about building trust. We have, I've talked about some of the tools that we have, that we've used. Our trade commissioner service plays an important role as well in helping Canadian companies to do that, to navigate.

17:29 We have trade commissioners that are based in Ottawa. We have trade commissioners that are in our embassies and our high commissions. They are there to help companies to understand markets, they are there to help understand and identify opportunities, and then to make connections and to identify who are credible partners for Canadian companies. Our diplomatic missions provide the relationships and they provide local knowledge. And the other thing that I would say is that we have a network of really capable, strong ambassadors and high commissioners in Africa. It's something I'm very proud of. They are strategic. They are very hardworking. And we have examples, including from the past year, of when they have really advocated for Canadian companies. They have gone to ministries. They've developed those connections. They develop influence so that when a Canadian company is doing business in an African country, they can turn to our High Commissioner or to our ambassador and say, look, I need you to help advocate for me and help us figure out this situation.

18:27 Another thing that we have done and an important pillar of the Africa strategy is engaging with our diaspora communities in Canada. We identified in the Africa strategy that people-to-people ties is a strength for Canada. We want to leverage the strengths that we have. Some of those are linguistic because we're English and French-speaking country and we want to really take advantage of that. But we also know that our diasporic communities are doing business, they understand local markets, they have connections, and we want to do a better job of leveraging those connections and that understanding. And as a government, we have increased the extent to which we are outreaching to the Canadian private sector, to diaspora communities here in Canada. In fact, over the past, or I would say since March 2025, since the launch of the strategy, Global Affairs Canada has had 75 events that it has participated in. And some of you see me all over the place.

19:23 I myself tried to get out and make sure that we are making those connections and having those really important conversations. The Canadian private sector, all that government can do is that we can provide the framework, we can provide the tools, we can kind of make introductions, we can help to develop policies and regulations and influence policies and regulations in Africa, but really it is the private sector that is the one that does the business, the one that creates the jobs, the one that creates the deals. And so we're working with the Canadian private sector and understand their pivotal, pivotal role. And then with chambers, with the Canada-Africa Chamber of Business, which is an essential component in this whole ecosystem that helps to make those connections happen.

20:10 This year, when we look to implementing the Africa strategy, we know we have to do that not just doing everything everywhere, but we need to focus. We need to have priorities. One of the things that we're mindful of is that we have Canadian strengths that are not only our people to people ties and our linguistic links, but also there are certain sectors that we know Canada has strengths in and that they are sectors that are of interest to African countries and African partners. And that includes agriculture and food systems, clean energy, infrastructure, digital technologies, financial services, education, health and mining and critical minerals. Canada is a powerhouse in many of these areas and so often I will be approached by an African counterpart saying, we'd like to talk to you about your expertise in this, do you have services in this area?

21:05 Realistically, at the present time, trade and investment, two-way merchandise trade between Canada and countries in Africa is relatively modest. Now, part of that is just simply a byproduct of the fact that I think it's over 70% of Canada's current two-way merchandise trade is with the United States. So for the whole rest of the world, it's like the rest of that percentage. But it's fast growing, even though it's a small percentage between Canada and Africa. In 2025, two-way merchandise trade between Canada and Africa reached a record of 18.8 billion and Canadian merchandise exports to Africa rose significantly. So we're looking at year on year, a continual increase in the amount of two-way trade. Canadian service exports to Africa more than doubled between 2021 and 2024, reaching $7.2 billion.

21:56 And that matters because it shows that Canada-Africa economic relations are not only about goods crossing borders, but they are also about technology, expertise, education, professional services, finance, digital solutions, and other forms of knowledge that are moving between our economies. And of course, the relationship is a two-way relationship. We want stronger trade with Africa, but that also means that we would like investment in Canada from Africa. We saw recently in Toronto, actually the last time I was here was when the Prime Minister was hosting his investment summit, seeking investment in Canada. Because part of our focus, we've been told clearly by our Prime Minister that when we're engaging internationally, he wants to see more linkages with our objectives that we have domestically. And so he has major projects underway. He is looking for investment in Canadian projects.

22:46 And there were African business leaders that were a part of that. We had Aliko Dengote, who was participating in that summit. And this is an example of this peer to peer relationship and the stronger ties between Canada and Africa. The other part of the equation is that you are seeing, and you will see over the coming weeks and months, that there are stronger relations between Canada and the European Union. And that is a part of how Canada is helping to build its own security, prosperity, and sovereignty. We are looking outward. We are looking to diversify our partnerships. And yes, Africa is a part of that plan. That is why this government of Canada has endorsed the Africa strategy. It's why our minister, when our minister was speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, she mentioned the Africa strategy.

23:34 They have bought into this, it's a part of the plan, and it's an important way in which we're going to diversify our trade and diversify our partnerships. Minister Anand herself travelled to Africa this summer, I was with her, We went to Cote d'Ivoire and to Benin. It was an excellent visit. I could tell the enthusiasm of our foreign minister while we were there, and I had the opportunity to talk to her about how we're implementing the strategy over the coming months. We also saw at the United Nations General Assembly on the margins of it that our Prime Minister Mark Carney met with the President of Angola and they talked about their ambitious achievements that they want to create in the future, including progress towards an economic cooperation memorandum and a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement. I will just kind of end my remarks on talking about results. And I think that it's fair and I would encourage everyone to continue to hold the Government of Canada and the Africa branch and myself to account for delivering real outcomes through the implementation of the Africa strategy. We want to do that too.

24:37 That is what we are working towards. Somebody asked me yesterday in one of our sessions about, you know, what do I want to see? What would be an indicator of success for me in the next year about implementing the Africa strategy? And part of my answer towards that is that I want to see more of these foreign investment promotion and protection agreements in place. We are working towards them. I want to see some continual progress on that. I'd like us to continue making progress on air transport agreements, and we have made some recent excellent progress. We have in the room with us our former senior trade commissioner for Nigeria, Carlos, who is in Lagos. Thank you for your service and for your very hard work. Very happy to see that in August we announced the expansion of the Canada and Nigeria Air Transport Agreement. That is going to allow for direct flights between our 2 countries for the first time, starting as early as this summer. This is going to create incredible opportunities, and we're very proud about that.

25:36 Yesterday, Canada's Minister of Transport announced an expanded air transport agreement with Cote d'Ivoire. This is going to allow for up to 14 passenger flights a week and up to 10 cargo flights a week as well. So you are starting to see that we're making progress in these areas. I would like to see we talk about the trade and development nexus program. I'd like to see us deliver some really fantastic examples of how we make that happen, where we have leveraged Export Development Canada, CCC, FinDev Canada, and ourselves to support a particular initiative. Of understanding with the African Union. Our current permanent representative is working diligently with the African Union in Addis so that we can build action and have an action plan under that memorandum of understanding to make it real.

26:31 I would, I believe that more and more with our expanded Africa trade hub that we are reaching to Canadian companies. And I would like us to do that more. And I hope that that's visible. And by the time I come here next year that I will be able to talk to you and you will already feel that Canadian companies are continuing to be served by our Trade Commissioner Service. And then I want us to have trade missions. The Canada Africa Chamber of Business is excellent in bringing missions and having visits. The government of Canada wants to do that as well. We see some of them incoming to Canada, whether it's for like an agricultural conference or it's to look at particular sectors. We are going to encourage that in our bilateral engagements and encourage African counterparts to come to Canada.

27:20 And also I will work within Global Affairs Canada to look at a mission that's headed by our own Minister of Trade and to bring Canadian businesses to Africa to be able to have those trade missions. So that's a little bit from me about results and about what I'm aiming to achieve. We're all about turning partnerships into real action. Participating, we've got a good representation from Global Affairs Canada that's here today with a lot of enthusiasm. Our new Director General for Pan-African Affairs, Andrew Hirst, is in front of me here in the room. When I talk about all these ambitions for results, I really am expecting him to deliver. No pressure. And I'm putting it in his performance agreement.

28:07 You've got our commitment. I look forward to participating today. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you. I look forward to having continuous conversations with you because we all have shared goals. And I just want to let you know that the Government of Canada is here and super committed, and we're going to work hard to advance these objectives. Thank you. Well, Assistant Deputy Minister Cheryl Urban, I know a massive responsibility that you have, the Prime Minister and his Cabinet, have enshrined under your leadership so much around Canada's trade diversification. And I know we all deeply appreciate and are privileged at the opportunity to be of support to the role of the private sector, both companies from across the continent like Senneth Bank, as well as Canadian businesses right here at home. Randy McCauley, since 1994, Goodman's LLP, this firmware use service partner, has been committed to the deepening of Canada-Africa trade and investment. Randy, by the way, with his illustrious background, has been at the forefront of many major transactions.

29:13 This particular block we're in, and indeed even this building and its surrounds, have got billions of dollars in investment in natural resource developments alone that have flowed into the continent. And people like Randy McCauley ensure that those deals are structured, that listings take place, and that the sort of visions we have are enabled through economic growth and business-led development. Randy also had a hit single in South Africa a few years ago called, I Just Want to Be Your Everything, prior to his foray from music into law. And I was thinking maybe next year I'll play that song as I call him up next time. But Randy, it is such a privilege to have you as our board of directors, as someone who's committed to the vision, and most of all for ensuring that we have the space to meet in the heart of Toronto, not only this conference, but the bilaterals we're having throughout today and yesterday, and the business deals we know will take place. Ladies and gentlemen, Randy McCauley.

30:04 Thank you very much, Gareth. And your use of hit single and a few years ago is very liberal, but I appreciate that. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for being here today, and thank you again to the Assistant Deputy Minister. Thank you for your words. On behalf of Goodmans, welcome. So it's truly our pleasure to once again host Africa Accelerating. Goodmans has a long history with the Canada Africa Chamber of Business. My partner and friend, Stephen Pincus, was a founding chair more than 30 years ago, and we've hosted this conference in this room on many occasions and hope to do so for many years to come. It's a relationship that we value and one that we're pleased to continue. So I'd like to say a few quick words about why a Canadian law firm cares about accelerating Africa, Africa accelerating, and about the relationship between Africa and Canada more broadly.

31:01 So as Gareth pointed to, much of what is discussed today will eventually fall onto a desk like mine. And that's a financing that needs structuring, a joint venture between 2 parties and 2 different legal systems, a dispute resolution clause that nobody thinks about or looks at until the day that it actually matters, a cross-border acquisition or merger. The transactions that succeed tend to be the ones where the groundwork is laid early and done properly. We tend to be the ones at the forefront that are looking at those details early. We believe in transactions where both sides emerge with mutually beneficial way forward and achieving that often requires close attention and well-established law firm like Goodman's.

31:54 So that's the way our involvement with the chamber in this conference is such a natural fit. Someone like us needs to be there so that the transactions that the people in this room want to achieve get done properly. The landscape is evolving, as our assistant deputy minister noted. You know, what's changed over the past decade is the direction in which capital and interest is flowing. It's no longer only Canada moving capital into African markets. We now see African institutions looking at Canada, at listings here, at partnerships here, and at acquisitions here. Our colleagues from Zenith Bank, for example, who are with us today, are testament to that growing two-way flow. This relationship can define the next 30 years of this organization's history.

32:42 So to those who have traveled a long way to be here, and particularly to those who faced difficulty in doing so. Thank you for making the journey. To those joining us from Toronto, I would encourage you to spend today listening rather than pitching. Trust us, the deal will flow from the better understanding of the business landscape and from the relationships you build today, here and beyond. The building is yours for the day, and our team is on hand for you if you need anything. You're most welcome here in Toronto, in Canada's global financial hub. Please learn, connect, and enjoy the day. Thank you very much, Randy. Well, I'd like to at this juncture, as we prepare for our keynote address of the morning, quote Prime Minister, the Honorable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada, in a message he delivered to delegates gathered in Nigeria recently, and I quote, I would like to recognize the Canada-Africa Chamber of Business for convening leaders from across Canada and Africa to advance investment, trade and partnership, accelerating and connecting businesses and institutions to drive practical collaboration and shared growth. That was opening in the remarks to the 6th Canada Africa Business Conference, Headline sponsored by Zenith Bank, who are with us today. And before I call upon our keynote speaker, for those of you who did not have the privilege of being in Lagos, take a look at the short video clip.

34:30 We're rising, ancient dream, step by step we move as 1. Heart beat louder, rhythm of the song. Echoes of the Earth go loud. Rhythm takes us deep inside Spirit dancing wild and free Africa, you look to me Oh, Africa, ah, standing in my coastal night.

35:21 Oh, Africa, ah, burning with eternal light. Hands up high, feel the fire Moving closer, it's setting fire Fire Fire Shadows fading, stars at night Drums awaken, endless night Every breath a sacred sound And that gives you a sense, I believe, of the sorts of dynamism and energy that we had in the room there with over 200 people who gathered.

36:10 And our keynote conference address, Dame Dr. Adiora Omiyoge, That address will be delivered today, represented by Kennedy Okwudili, Mr. Kennedy Okwudili, Executive Director at Zenith Bank. Thank you so much for joining us. I'd like to recognize the Chief Executive Officer in her role as the first woman appointed in 2024 to represent the bank and to lead it since its founding. She brings 30 years of experience in banking, 26 of them at Sena, and has served in senior roles until her elevation at the bank. She holds a number of degrees, qualifications, and is widely recognized. And under her leadership, joined by her very able team, including Mr. Kennedy, Okwudili today, we believe we have seen tremendous strides in advancing the Canada-Africa relationship, certainly meriting and echoing the words of Prime Minister of Canada. Thank you so much. The floor is yours, sir, for our keynote address from Zenith Bank.

37:17 Thank you really for the kind words. You know, with the success we recorded in Lagos, we knew that Canada would be very welcoming, Canada will be very encouraging. And I'm pleased to say we like what we see. It's on that basis I wish to stand on already established protocols. And indeed, I bring you warm greetings from the Group Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Bank TLC, Dame Doctor Adora Umoji, OOM. In June, we stood together in Lagos at the 6th Canada-Africa Business Conference.

38:13 Today we continue that conversation here in Toronto. And thank the Canada Africa Chamber of Business, the government of Canada and all partners for building a bridge that now runs from Lagos to Toronto. In Lagos, we made a case for financing Africa's next phase of growth. Here in Canada, I want to focus on the partnership that will help deliver it. Canada has decided to diversify its trade and Africa is on the map. So the question is no longer whether Africa, It is how and with whom.

39:05 If Africa is a growth market, who do you trust to take you there? Let me begin with evidence rather than a forecast. In 1990, our founder, Jim Ovia, CFR, started ZeniBank in Lagos with a clear conviction that an African bank could be run to the same standards as the best banks anywhere. At the time, that was a bold claim. Many believed world-class finance was something Africa imported and could not build for itself.

39:53 36 years later, the evidence is on the record. In 2004, we listed the Nigerian exchange. In 2013, we listed global depository receipts on the London Steck Exchange. In the 2025 financial year, the Zenit Group delivered a record profits after tax of over 1 trillion Naira and gross earnings crossed 4 trillion Naira for the first time. At year end, our total assets stood at 31.4 trillion Naira with customer deposits of 24.3 trillion Naira.

40:42 About 21.7 billion US dollars and 16.8 billion US dollars, respectively at year end exchange rates. In July, Euro money named Zenit Bank, Africa's best bank and Nigeria's best bank for the second year running. The Bankers 2026 ranking of top 1,000 World Banks placed Zenit first in Nigeria by tier 1 capital for the 17th consecutive year. I share these facts as proof of concept. They show that an institution born in Africa, owned in Africa, and led by Africans can meet the standards international investors expect.

41:39 And if it can be done in banking, it can be done in mining, in agro-processing, in energy, in manufacturing and in other businesses. That is the real message of Zenit Rise. Much of Africa is already investible today for partners who know where to look. A trusted partner must be where the business is. Africa is 54 markets with different currencies, regulators and languages. Zenit has grown from Lagos into a group with subsidiaries in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Gambia. This year, we took 2 decisive steps.

42:30 In May, we completed the acquisition of Paramount Bank in Kenya, taking Zenit into East Africa. This afternoon's spotlight on Kenya will show why that market matters. In April, we opened Zenit Bank Cote d'Ivoire, our first subsidiary in Francophone West Africa, in the largest economy of the West African Economic and Monetary Union. Our Paris branch, opened in 2024, links that Francophone ambition to Europe. Our platforms in London, Manchester, and Dubai, and our office in China, connects African trade to global capital. So when a Canadian company asks, who can bank me from Lagos to Abidjan, from Accra to Nairobi, Zenit is ready with an answer.

43:29 A Canadian firm working with us does not face 54 markets, with 54 separate sets of problems. It gains 1 relationship across a network that runs from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Today, we want to extend that bridge to Canada. Now let me turn to Canada. Canada is a trading nation. Around two thirds of its economy is linked to international trade. Recent years have shown the risks of depending too heavily on a single market. And investors on both sides expect mines to be run responsibly, with host communities sharing in the benefits.

44:17 Canada's own $1.5 billion first and last mine fund shows that it understands the value of the whole mineral chain. Zenit can support that chain on the ground. Trade finance for Canadian equipment, local currency working capital, foreign exchange solution, and financing for the local contractors and suppliers, every mind depends on. 3, agro-food and agro-processing. Canada is one of the world's leading agricultural exporters and a global leader in farm machinery, grain handling and food safety. Africa brings the land, the farmers and a fast growing consumer markets.

45:05 Yet it spends heavily on imported food while much of its own harvest is lost before it reaches market. Storage, cold chains, and processing plants are the answer, And Canada knows how to build them. Zenit already finances farmers, processors and exporters. And our international trade seminar on non-oil export is now on its tenth edition. We can connect Canadian technology to African producers and finance both sides of the trade. Clean technology and the energy transition. Canada has built a strong clean technology sector from grid software to hydrogen and battery storage.

45:58 Across Africa, hundreds of millions of people still lack reliable power. In Nigeria, the Electricity Act of 2023 opened the way for states to build their own electricity markets. That creates room for mini grids, embedded generation, and distributed solar at commercial scale. And for the reliable power that industry and data centers we need. Zenit can structure the local currency finance that turns those projects from plants into power. And we would welcome Canadian technology partners in that pipeline. So why Zenit?

46:45 Because we offer the 3 things a new market entrant needs most. First, strength. A capital base and balance sheet built for large transactions, recognized by the banker for 17 consecutive years. Second, trust. Governance and reporting built to global standards and a record tested across cycles. Third, reach. A growing footprint across West, East, and Francophone Africa, connected to London, Paris, Dubai and beyond. We know the markets because we are of the market.

47:31 And we understand you because we have spent decades working to your standards. My advice to Canadian companies is to engage early. Bring us in while the commercial plan is still taking shape So the banking relationships can help shape it. For an exporter, that may start with a prospective order, a buyer assessment and the structure of payment. For an investor, it may start with local financing needs, currency exposure and the project's revenues. Canada diversifies its trade, African gains investments, skills and jobs. Both sides grow.

48:17 We also look forward to working with Export Development Canada and Development Finance Institute Canada, bringing complementary strengths to the same transactions. Now, an invitation. 36 years ago, Zenit was built on a simple belief that an African institution could stand with the best in the world. That belief has been tested and proven. Built in Africa, ready for the world. That is the story of Zenit. It can also be the story of Canada's next chapter of trade. So my invitation this morning is simple. Approach Africa as a partner and true partners you can trust.

49:05 Bring your capital, your technology, and your expertise. We will bring the market knowledge, the balance sheets, and the reach we are ready to extend to Canada. Together, let us move from conversation to transaction, and from transaction to lasting prosperity for both our peoples. I encourage every business in this room to leave today with a specific next step. Name the opportunity you want to advance, the partner you need and the date you will meet again. Our team is here in Toronto this week, ready for those conversations. When we next gather, let the measure of this conference be the orders fulfilled, the partnership operating and the investments that have moved forward because people here chose to act.

50:06 I wish you a productive conference. Thank you. God bless Canada. God bless Africa and God bless our partnership. That's the keynote address by my GMD, Dame Dr. Adora Umoji, OON, who has requested me to deliver it on her behalf. Thank you. Brilliant. Well, Thank you very much for the keynote address and for that call to action, action that is already underway. I would like to now, for our first panel, call upon our esteemed chair of the panel, Dr. Chinedu Zefenaye, if you would kindly join me up on stage, followed by the 3 panelists for our first session, Financing the Global growth engine, which is of course the African continent in partnership with Canada.

51:04 Carlos Roya Sabulu, our outgoing or recent former Deputy High Commissioner of Canada to Lagos, a key ally and a great partner in the delivery of the recent 6th Canada Africa Business Conference. Steve Tippmann, by widespread request also, who was with us in Lagos, joining, and then finally, Jacqueline Yawa, who I've had the distinct privilege of working with from Zenith Bank in realizing everything we've done today. Over to you, Dr. Zefania, and recognizing your role at the bank as general manager and group head for corporate communications. Thank you Thank you so much, Garrett Thank you very much everyone in here It has it has really been a very illuminating session all through, from yesterday and then this morning.

51:53 This is really a great privilege for everybody who has some plan about what to do in Africa, what to do about your business, and the opportunities you find within the Canadian space. For us to jump into the conversation of today, I think the best person to start with will be Carlos. He just came in. Yes, yes. My reason for requesting that Carlos jumps in first is that a lot of conversations about businesses across borders have become imperative these days. Before now, you would do your best to grow your business within your country, but we now know that with the right diplomacy, with the right people discussing at the government level, businesses grow better.

52:48 Otherwise, some small difficulty in 1 country can make a business fold. So the resilience businesses require to be great in contemporary time is built by great diplomats. And I dare say, Carlos is one of such. And I want you to give him a round of applause for that. If you listen to Paula speak, she said, the achievements of the chamber are not abstract. They are tangible. There are things you can touch and feel. I have listened to Carlos once and again, speak about the Lagos Toronto Direct Flight Agreement as one of his proudest achievements.

53:41 One of the things that he will always remember that Canada and Nigeria got off the start and something that would trigger a lot of businesses going forward. It opens the way for passengers and cargo flights for the first time straight out from Lagos to Canada. What did it take to make this happen, Carlos? And now that this door is open, what must happen for businesses and exporters not just to travel, feel better? I mean, I spent nearly 8 hours in Frankfurt waiting for my flight. Feeling better is one thing, but what will it take for them to make the best use of this opportunity. So my question is, what did you do to make it happen?

54:36 Because there are other opportunities that we will all make to happen. We want to learn from that. And then beyond making it happen, How will we all sitting in this room make the best benefit of it? Thank you. Good morning everyone. Such a pleasure to be here today. Thank you to the organizers for the kind invitation. Let me first say that it is such a great privilege to serve Canada overseas. And in my capacity in the field, I was one of the individuals amongst many, of course, supporting and advancing that conversation around air transport. And many of those colleagues back in Ottawa, led by our Assistant Deputy Minister, and of course, other government departments. So as diplomats in the field, we have a role to play, and we're the ones that are connecting, sometimes intervening, sometimes facilitating, sometimes advocating, promoting, and doing the necessary to bring people together and facilitate those conversations.

55:38 So in thinking about this particular question, I kept on thinking about the plane gets us, it makes the connection. But what we really need to do is build the ecosystem around it. And what I mean by that is clearly we need to be speaking to all stakeholders, you know, from governments to the private sector, to logistics companies, to banks, to companies that are ready to do business both ways in order to build the necessary momentum and the necessary conditions to be able to maximize now the availability of direct flights. Clearly, the way I see it is that there is a tremendous opportunity here. This is a moment where we're going to be able to do much more than what we're doing now in order to be able to grow that relationship much further than where we are at this stage. But it does take, as I mentioned earlier, commitment. It takes intention.

56:33 It takes presence. It takes connecting and even moving into areas where perhaps we are a little bit uncomfortable because we don't know much about the context of the country for those companies that are going for the first time. But at the same time for Nigerian stakeholders and Nigerian entrepreneurs to be able to lean forward and say, okay, this is the opportunity for me to do more with Canada and create opportunities that would then lead to great business. So there's a lot of work to do, but clearly this is one of those situations where now there's an opening where more trade, more investment, more conversations, easier to get to Canada and to Nigeria. And I feel your pain because I understand the many, many, many hours, a day and a half of travel to get to back into Canada.

57:20 Thank you Carlos. More to be done. You see a lot of investments that we're still going to it. Talking about investments, Steve, I read up, I need to tell you, I read up a few things about you. Yeah, I did. From Care Canada to Volunteer Canada, now Executive Director at TFO. So when Carlos says there's still a lot more to do in terms of investment, I'd like you to tell us, because you've spent decades connecting exporters from developing countries to Canada buyers, what most often stops African SMEs from being ready for Canadian markets.

58:07 It's not just about people have desires, people make their plans, but beyond that, what do you think makes some African SMEs find it a little bit not exactly the way they want it in terms of accessing Canadian market. And then how much of that is about finance? Because we have a lady from the financial system sitting by your side. I'm going to get to her after you. So how much of it is about finance? And how much of it is about certification, standards, access to markets? You name it. So from your wealth of experience, how can this happen? What are those things that stop them? How much of it is finance and what other things should they do to get it going?

59:00 There's a lot to unpack there. Gareth, we have till about 9 tonight, is that right? Thank you for your question. So maybe I'll start with just a brief intro of the Trade Facilitation Office Canada, TFO Canada. We are a not-for-profit, non-government organization that works in many developing countries around the world to support small and medium enterprises to help build their capacity to be able to export to foreign markets, sometimes to Canada, sometimes to neighboring countries. It's really using trade to achieve development impact. And so, your question around what are some of the obstacles or impediments, it's interesting. It's somewhat related to what Carlos was saying because access is an important driver.

59:56 When you think about Canadian businesses, oftentimes they're not necessarily thinking about the African continent when they're thinking about trade or sourcing. Assistant Deputy Minister Cheryl Urban talked about Canada's trade abroad being about 70% exports going to the United States. Well, the fact is that about half of our country's imports actually come from the United States as well. And so sometimes, you know, that proximity plays actually a very important role. And then so that proximity then extends to Latin American countries so Mexico on down to South America as well.

1:00:42 But I think there is a real tremendous opportunity in front of us to look at this trade diversification and the appetite that exists for Canadian businesses to look outside of what their traditional trade corridors are. I can think of a number of opportunities. So, and certainly this chamber looks at it from the perspective of not just the diaspora, but also Canadian businesses that are interested in exploring greater opportunities in Africa. Their African SMEs, the work that we've done, there's definitely always an appetite and excitement and an interest in looking at the Canadian market and the standards, certifications, other obstacles, they're definitely there. We, as part of our work, want to help them to build their capacity to be able to understand what it takes to be able to meet Canadian standards for their products to be able to enter this market.

1:01:50 One of the things that we also want to share with the SMEs is that if you're able to meet the Canadian standards, this is a doorway to the world because Canadian standards are very high. And so oftentimes the way we work with the SMEs is if you're thinking about exporting to Canada, that can actually open the door to other markets like the United States or to other markets in the European Union, for example. Access to finance, there's no doubt that is another impediment and oftentimes what we see is, you know, I can think of an example actually a few years ago, we were supporting Zambian and Mozambican SMEs at a trade show in Johannesburg, South Africa.

1:02:43 And wouldn't you know that there was this 1 SME exporter of peanuts and he had secured a sizable order from a South African importer. The first shipment was going to be 8 truckloads of peanuts. The next challenge that this exporter faced was, oh boy, how do I finance all of this? How do I make sure that I have everything in place? Because our experience shows that SMEs often, when they're having a trade deal happen or commercial transaction, the timing in which they pay their suppliers is not in sync with the timing that they get paid. And so that becomes a huge barrier for many, and they're not able to actually overcome that. And so our work now is not just about trade capacity building and market access, but we actually now work more closely with local financial institutions to be able to help SMEs not just become trade ready, but also investment ready. And that is, we feel has been in many cases that missing link. And so, working with organizations such as Zenith Bank will become very important in the future because the more that we can equip African SMEs with all of that, the better opportunities they'll have, not just to the Canadian market, but to others as well.

1:04:15 I hear you. There is a need for finance, appropriate finance, and this will be provided by local financing systems that understand the business environment and the people who are borrowing. So that takes us to the banker in our midst. If you listened, and I know everybody heard the Deputy Assistant Minister say that there is value in what Canada is doing and the time to act is now. And if the time to act is now, we should have some proof that action has started and some deals are being signed. So to you, Jacqueline, 25 years of leadership experience across multiple segments of the bank, customer experience, procurement strategy, you name it.

1:05:09 Now, ZeniBank operates in several African markets. And in key financial centers, we heard the director speak about London, Dubai, China. How has the bank positioned itself to support trade and investment between Africa and other markets like Canada? And then after telling us how, we'd like to know if truly there has been any deals that we can say this is proof of concept. So to you, Jacqueline. Thank you very much, Dr. Zef, and thank you for having us here, and thank you for the partnership. So I'll take my conversation from the very words of the Assistant Deputy Minister.

1:05:59 She mentioned that her words exactly was, you've got to find the right partners and then you've also got to build trust. You had the ED in laying out the GMD speech mentioned that over the last 36 years we have built a balance sheet, a robust balance sheet that supports trade across continents and also supports trade intra. So the positioning that we've done is our positioning is usually, and I like what you said, I said, did he steal my notes? Economic blocks. So usually that's what we follow. We follow economic blocks. We started from Nigeria.

1:06:45 Nigeria is a formidable market on the African continent. We moved from Nigeria to what? Ghana, right? Our cousins in Ghana, my EDs mentioned today that built in Africa and ready for the world. So I'll just retweak that again. Birthed in Lagos, built by our cousins from Ghana, I see her excellencies here, our cousins from Sierra Leone, and our cousins from the Gambia. So we were able to solidify our footprints in the West African bloc. And then of course, we realized that it was also important for us to facilitate trade from where? From an international hub. So about 20 years ago, we opened a subsidiary, the UK, Zenit Bank UK.

1:07:38 All of this ties into supporting trade financing and the ancillary services around that. The UK did what? The UK opened a representative office in China because China is also a formidable trade partner in the world From there we also opened what? A branch, a subsidiary in Paris. And the Paris office was, you know, to support the Francophone speaking countries on the African continent. So I was particularly excited when I heard that Air Canada would also announce, or it had announced that there will be direct flights between Canada and Abidjan. I was like, oh, that's interesting, because It serves that entire hub, about 7 countries. You can have Senegal, you can have all the other countries in that hub. So how has Zenith positioned itself?

1:08:40 Over the last 36 years, we have moved strategically, following economic blocks to ensure that we glean trade from our existing customers and into the new markets that we're going into. And most recently, we also opened in Kenya. We bought a subsidiary. So we've got footprints on the African continent to support the after vision, which is ensure that intra-African trade is seamless, not just seamless, ensure that what we do on the African continent with the rest of the world is formidable. The World Bank says what in 2035, global exports between Africa and the rest of the world will double.

1:09:32 It's currently around 600 billion, SICA thereabout, in 2035. What does that tell you? It means you will need financial institutions, you will need the kind of syndications to fund those deals. And I'm so glad the Assistant Deputy Minister also mentioned that look, Canada is looking to double its trade transactions with the rest of the world as well in the coming years. So what therein lies what? Partnership, therein lies opportunity. And all of these things that we've done is we've done it consistently with the right leadership. I say to people that look, banking is the business of not just intermediation, but it's the business of risk management, ensuring that capital is adequately allocated to the right sectors, so that what?

1:10:28 It is not so that the companies can do well. It is so that, like the assistant minister said, so that there can be food on the table. Guess what? When you fund the value chain, what do you do? You put food on the table through employment. What do you also do? It then also means that you mitigate migration across the Sahara. If I've got work in my village in Nigeria or in somewhere in Ghana, I wouldn't cross the Sahel into the Austrian Alps and then somehow lose my life. So it's really bigger than that. So Zenith, over the last 36 years, Chinedu, we are well-positioned in terms of branch network, in terms of our balance sheets, and then most important, in terms of our people.

1:11:17 The people has always been the tripod. If you look at our leadership team, our ED there has been with the bank for 23 years. You heard him say the group managing director for about 26 as well. I was there, I took a detour, but I ran back. Chinedu did the same thing, because you know what, Zenith is, we usually say this word, in your best interest, but that best interest, to be honest, is because we're interested in the ecosystem that we work in, where the communities where we operate from. So Chinedu, we're well positioned in terms of balance sheets, we're well positioned in terms of branch and subsidiary network, and then we're also interested and well positioned to fund those deals. Because you know what, we've had the proof of concept. I won't mention names, but Chinedu, we've done multi-billion dollar transactions in oil and gas. Oil and gas. We've done in the extractive industry, which is an emerging opportunity in Nigeria. And I'm sure with the guardrails that we have in place, it's something we can glean from the Canadian government. And we can also bring that to bear and also leveraging what our cousins are also doing in Ghana, because they have a very formidable gold industry.

1:12:39 So for me, Zenith is positioned, properly positioned on the African continent, not just Nigeria, to fund those deals as they come in. We've done it before and we can do it again. Thank you. Thank you very much. And the proof of concept, oil and gas, extractive industries, agriculture, you name it. So we know that businesses go where there is trust. A lot of Africa's efforts in just merely speaking to people as they come to Africa to do business will be falling on deaf ears if finance cannot find revenue. Now, with that in mind, I'd like to come back to Carlos. Your wealth of experience is something that everybody admires, you know?

1:13:29 Over 2 decades across Africa, even in similar jurisdictions that are not in Africa, that have our kind of developmental dynamics. And I'm speaking about India and Chile. Now, the trade between Canada and Nigeria now stands at much more than $3 billion a year. And every time I heard you speak in Lagos, you said you will want it to be much more than that. In fact, at some point, you said you would want it to double in the next 5 to 10 years. That's really very ambitious. So if it is possible with Nigeria, if you envision that with Nigeria, What would it take to achieve it across Africa? Now, my question is, because Accelerate Africa is for the entire Africa. If you see such prospects in Nigeria, Do you envision it for the rest of Africa?

1:14:33 And from where you sit in Lagos, what would it take to make that difference that will catalyze this in terms of investment protection, agreements, stronger banking links, whatever you think it is. So can this extend beyond Nigeria to the rest of Africa? And what will it take to properly harness and catalyze it? Thank you very much. So many things to say and so little time, but just building on what was said earlier, clearly, you know, the banking connection is one that is truly important. And I know we've had conversations before with your bank about establishing a branch or some sort of a partnership with Canadian institutions in order to be able to be that facilitator. And I truly believe that that's one way where you not only move capital, you move investment, you facilitate exports and imports both ways. But it does much more than that. It does. It brings people together and it creates comfort, it builds trust.

1:15:34 And from then on, something that I continue to say and every platform that I speak at is relationships, relationships, relationships. For those Canadian companies that are hearing me this morning. Sending an email is not building trust, is not building the relationship. Expecting a phone call back for 17 days is not the way you build business. Get your, as we say in French, prenez vos courage à deux mains, like, you know, be courageous, get on a flight, spend time in some of these economic centers on the continent, develop those relationships, you know, look people in the eye and let them know that what you're all about and the value proposition that you have and can come back at it again and again and again. And in that way, you're able to be able to build those relationships.

1:16:26 But to your point, I was talking earlier about the ecosystem that needs to be built around the direct flights. And by that, I also talked about, or I really meant to say, some of it, it is bilateral agreements like the Foreign Investment Protection Agreement, that clearly is something that builds confidence and trust. But it's also about the financing. It's also about the companies that are doing the necessary in order to set up operations in both countries. It's also about, you know, the enhancing our awareness or what opportunities lie for both business but also investing. Because I think there's a piece of the conversation that we need to talk about more.

1:17:14 And I believe the executive director talked about it as well, is what about the institutional investors and the pension funds engaging more proactively and more actively in the continent, which is something that would respond to some of the things that you've outlined, executive director. But also, what about Canada's value proposition as a global investment destination to bring African investment into Canada? Because all of that is building that ecosystem, is generating conversations, is building the trust, is moving capital, is allowing people to understand that if you're a, if you're a Zenith bank, for instance, and you're facilitating, you know, the investment of a family office, or if you're facilitating, you know, a large conglomerate's first transaction into Canada, that's one thing, but what about moving and expanding their operations into Toronto, into Montreal, into Vancouver, and what about then investing further into areas that are of strategic importance to Canada, which is part of the conversation that took place a few weeks ago when Prime Minister Carney held the investment summit.

1:18:17 So all of that is building the ecosystem. All of that is building that trust and all of that is building relationships. Because at the end of the day, I go back to what I said at the beginning. It's about the conviction. It's about the intention, but it's also about the action that you take, right? Because intentions are great of course for the promotion piece, but at the end of the day what is going to matter is what are the actions that you take to demonstrate that you can be that value partner that that Nigerian or that Ghanaian or that South African company requires in order to export, import or invest in the country. And then maybe my final point is, is, again, I speak perhaps primarily to the to the Canadian companies here that are venturing into the continent.

1:19:03 And I try to say that in one of my recent LinkedIn posts, you know, be open, you know, be bold, know that we all have blind spots, know that we all have perhaps things that we don't know, but what you find out on the other side, it's something so amazing, so precious, so interesting, so substantial, that you will surprise yourself in terms of the opportunity that lies on the other side if you only try, right? And this moment that we're living now about the landscape changing and our government asking us to, or not asking us, or let's say the moment where companies will likely have to pivot to other markets because of the relationship that we currently have with the US, it's an opportunity. Sure, it's an opportunity to move into the Indo-Pacific, into Asia, but it's also an opportunity to look at Africa through a different lens. So that moment is an important one, and I think we have to take steps forward in order to move in that direction.

1:20:07 Thank you, thank you very much Carlos. Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Hopefully that would build that billion dollars to 6 and to 9 and to 12 and beyond. Yes, go ahead. Maybe just to continue on with what Carlos is saying, it's absolutely true. And it's interesting. So we all lived through the global pandemic in 2020-21. Everything was online, right? Meetings, Zoom, everybody knew their Zoom account, MS Teams and all that good stuff. And we're still using them as effective tools, but they do not replace that person-to-person, human-to-human contact. And so I'm reminded in 2022, so finally we had our first in-person trade mission. It was at the Seattle Large International Food Show in Montreal. We had a number of small and medium enterprise from about 6 different countries.

1:21:03 We had a panel of importers, Canadian buyers, and they were giving their advice to the exporters on quality standards, what they're looking for, and all that important stuff. And one question that was asked of them is, so what are your thoughts on online and virtual trade missions? And they said, yeah, no, that's not, it's not so great. I mean, they said that the value of these tools is that, okay, so once a first meeting has been established, and actually one of them said it very well. They said, you know, the fact that you're here in Montreal, that you've invested in this trade mission, you're going to be exhibiting at this trade show and that you're here this morning meeting with us, that shows us that you're serious.

1:21:49 That tells us that you know what you're here to do business. And then after that of course we can continue on with the online conversations. Let's you know use that Zoom account or what have you. But I think what Carlos has said is equally true on the Canadian side for them wanting to know, to meet the people, to maybe sample the product and so on. So just to add a little bit. Yeah, thank you so much. Innovation is not something you would describe Steve without saying he's innovative. I like that perspective you brought to the conversation. But as a banker myself, rule of the tump, if you lend to 10 females and 10 males in Nigeria, I do not know about other jurisdictions, the recovery rate, and this has been proven, for loans to women is better.

1:22:50 Don't take me through it and start asking me why. So that takes me to the next question. The Trade Office in Canada for resilient, inclusive, and sustainable economic group, TRISEG program, is already active in Nigeria and plans to work through local financial institutions like Zenith. What could a partnership with a bank like Zenith look like in practice, especially for women-led and small businesses. Now I'm saying this emphasis on women-led because we have proof in Nigeria that these people pay back loans better than fellows like you and I. So now, lay bare for us. Tell us, what would the partnership with a bank like Zenit in practice look to achieve to leverage on this experience about financing women businesses?

1:23:51 Yeah, it's a great question and it is interesting, right, your comments on the ability to pay back and to honour that commitment, yet we know that in many jurisdictions, women-led, women-owned businesses are the ones that have the hardest time to actually get a loan or to have access to capital. So there's admittedly more work that we all collectively need to do. And this is why the project that you mentioned, the Trade for Resilient, Inclusive, Sustainable Economic Growth project, it is operational right now. In fact, colleagues are in Zambia, going to Nigeria, they've been in Senegal, myself I'll be in Madagascar and Ethiopia next week, just really launching and talking about some of the things that we've learned to be able to establish these relationships, partnerships, including financial institutions.

1:24:51 One area I mentioned, the access to finance piece, that is an area that we used to think well, you know that's other people, that's their project, but we understand more and more that they're fundamentally linked. And so you're not serving the SME well if you're providing access to market, but you're not providing that access to finance or at least educating them. So I think an institution like Zenith Bank can certainly help us because you have the expertise, right? You have an SME practice, you have an area where you're looking at how can you help support SMEs with all of this great knowledge that you can help us to impart on the SMEs that are participating in the project. And so when you think about this Tri-Sec project that you're talking about, It's in 16 countries, 8 of them are in Sub-Saharan Africa. So there's a tremendous opportunity there.

1:25:51 One other thing to note is, and this is a first for TFO Canada that we're doing, is as part of this project, it's an initiative that we'll be launching probably in about a year's time, we call it the SME Climate Resilience Fund. And this is a fund that's designed to provide small grants to SMEs that are exclusively led or owned by women and other underrepresented groups. So again, really looking at those are the ones that need it the most. And so, and this is really to provide them with more technical assistance, digital resources, capacity building and training. And so this fund is really meant to support the development of investment plans for improving environmental sustainability and climate resilience for these SMEs. And so another opportunity perhaps is so, you know, with this fund, right now we have, you know, a modest amount as part of our project, but certainly if this is of interest to institutions, others that want to participate in it, there's certainly an opportunity to make that grow, so that we can reach and touch more SMEs in the process.

1:27:03 Thank you very much. That sounds very, very interesting. And I pray and hope that it works out very well. I don't know how much time we have, but I wanted to raise something about investors coming to Africa, because truly, people go where they can see their exit clearly. To you Jacqueline, you head the investor relations department in Zernit Bank. Your wealth of experience engaging investors across multiple jurisdictions is nothing to just overlook. I wanted to know from you, foreign investors often cite currency swings and ED Canada alluded to it. Things are getting better, But they also speak about difficulty in repatriating profits. So they can't see their way out. You convince them on the way in, but they are looking at the way out and saying, how do I walk away with my profit, given regulatory uncertainties as their reason to hold back?

1:28:08 Now, the question is, how does the bank help them manage these risks and enter African markets with much more confidence. And if you can trace 1 or 2 without mentioning the names of the companies, sectors where people have, despite the prevailing challenges, entered those sectors and were able to come out with their profits. So Chinidu, thank you for that question. So how do we support potential investors into the African market? Because I'm not just going to be speaking about Nigeria. I would start with the soft side. Yeah, it's supporting conferences like this that helps us to build trust.

1:28:58 Risk is a perception thing. You know, sometimes you think that, oh, the world is, in this community, is going down. But it's just because of the stories that are being told. So in rooms like this, across the world, Zenit supports several chamber of commerce's from home and abroad to ensure that the right narrative is put out there. We point them in the right direction. So that's the soft side. Another wonderful 1 we've done for close to 20 years is sponsoring the CNN program inside Africa. The African story is not about the monkey that jumps from 1 tree to another. It's a beautiful thing. But the African story is about the opportunities that are laced around the 54 countries that I see not just as fragmented but economic blocks, intersections of economic blocks. So how do we support people to manage risk is by telling the right story. So that's the soft side of it. Now, beyond the traditional onboarding, we support you to open an account, we give you the payment solutions.

1:30:15 We also have a bespoke of affiliate companies. One of our colleagues is here. They support you through several things, whether it's wealth management, whether it's financial advisory, funds and asset management, custodial, trustees, securities trading. And what has made it really beautiful now is that over the last 36 months, Nigeria has been on a transition. We have moved from a very bad situation into a market. Our cousins from Ghana smiling because her president has also done very well in that economy. And Nigeria has moved into better frontier markets.

1:31:07 We're back on the JP Morgan bond markets. We have also been removed from the gray list. So these are all things that have consolidated that opportunity. And then when you're coming into the market, it's not just to tell you, come and open an account. We have the market knowledge, the local market knowledge. Good for us in Ghana, we have that. Good for us, we have that already in Nigeria. And because of the bank we acquired in Kenya, it's been existing for quite a number of years now. So we also have in-depth knowledge there, because I can say here that not one person was fired when we did that acquisition, because that's not the aim. The aim is to ensure that we support trade on the African continent, inter-trade and inter-trade with other African countries. So Chinedu, we start by this. We start on the soft side.

1:32:06 And on the hard side, we have built a formidable knowledge, market knowledge, local knowledge, whether it's in Ghana, whether it's in Nigeria, whether it's in Accra, supported by the hub in London or Paris to ensure that we provide the right advisory services, you know, to potential clients. We will point you in the right direction. It's not our role, it's not our responsibility. But you know when you go in to see the doctor and you say, oh I've got a headache, the first thing they'll ask you is, did you drink water today? So that's the kind of relationship. He was very spot on when he said everything is about relationship. So for us, we are very big on relationship management. And that's why you hear or see, you're not an account officer, but you have dedicated relationship officers anchored on the 3 part of the bank, which is people, technology, and service. Our people are there to support you, connected, one of our colleagues is here, by sister companies and affiliate companies to provide you with the bespoke need that would diffuse the risk. Life is about risk itself, but at least we will tell you these are the things you can put in place to mitigate those risks.

1:33:25 And Carlos rightly mentioned it. Be bold, don't be completely scared. Sometimes you have to chew your gum and walk as you enter a new market. And Africa is open to work with Canadian companies. Thank you. Thank you very much. Before you just, let her just make her closing remarks, I want us to take just straight to points as your closing remark. Africa has been described as the next global growth engine. For you, what happens, what will happen, and you say from where you sit that we've achieved that dream of being the next global growth engine for you, in a few words. OK, for me, what will happen is to see multi-billion dollar deals syndicated across the continent by financial institutions, even collaborations between Canadian companies, Canadian banks and Nigerian banks to ensure that those deals come to bear. Deals that will put, for me it's very important, for us in Zenith, it's very important, in a sustainable way, you know, that would put food on the table and ensure that the Last mile, last inch is impacted.

1:34:47 It's about improving lives. It's about improving livelihood. So that's what will, for me, and moving people out of poverty is what would be for me the new frontier. When we break those 54 fragments and we become 1 economic block, in truth, seamless payments, seamless logistics from Kenya to Nigeria, and seamless logistics from Lagos port to the creeks somewhere in Nigeria. So that for me would be it, honestly. Thank you very much. That's for you, seamless transactions, big deal, that's for you, will be when the next global great engine role of Africa is achieved. Thank you very much. I want to hear from Steve in a few words.

1:35:38 Anybody who describes Steve without saying his specialty is in brokering, international trade facilitation, he is innovative, Steve is proactive and all that. If you haven't said that about him, then you don't know him very well. So Steve, for you, this is a strategic question. When, in your own estimation, would it have happened for us to say, now, Africa has a match, next global growth engine? Wow, good question. So I agree with everything that Jacqueline just said. But I turn towards our mission and our mandate around supporting the small and medium enterprises in countries. And so when you look at the 54 countries of Africa, anywhere from 90, 98% of businesses in these countries are actually SMEs.

1:36:31 And so, you know, we and they represent probably anywhere from 50 to 70% of employment in the countries. And so for us, for me personally, I think that success is everything that Jacqueline said, which then helps to also facilitate more trade and really supporting the SMEs, because a lot of those other larger obstacles have been removed and that the SMEs can flourish and be able to grow and trade with their neighbors or with Canada. SMEs trading with their neighbors or with Canada. Thank you very much, Steve. Now to Carlos. Every time I speak to you, I see hope, expectations, big dreams about Nigeria, big dreams about Africa.

1:37:21 We want you to encapsulate these big dreams in a manner that we'll be able to understand it and remember it. I hope I'll be able to fly Air Canada and not spend 8 hours at Frankfurt. Among other things that you have itemized that is your dream for Africa. Tell us in summary, when do you think that once we achieve that, among other things, that Africa would have achieved its goal of being the next global growth engine? Thank you. I think we clearly have said some very important and very key things here. Something that comes to mind is that perfection is the enemy of progress, which is one of the things that I said back in Lagos in June.

1:38:14 And As a result, we don't need to have all of the conditions, we don't need to have perfect alignment, we don't need to have all of the knowledge in order to move forward and take action and that goes both ways. And I say that because we also understand and see and watch what other countries, let's call them Canadian competitors, are doing in the continent. And some of them have been doing this for you know 10, 20, 30 and more years. Whether it's the UK, whether it's China, the US, Italy, Turkey, and the list goes on and on and on. So the question there is, if they are regularly in a sustained manner engaging with the continent, you know, leaders visiting, you know, ministers and royalty and everything else, Is it good for them? Why is it not good enough for us? So we're actually behind, I would say, in terms of that engagement. And I truly believe that the direction that we're going now is 1 where we have a revamped interest and effort and action, as I was mentioned earlier, with the Africa strategy. So there is a moment. So I come back to the moment.

1:39:22 If the world dynamics, and particularly the North American dynamics for us, the landscape is changing, there is an opportunity for us to look at a continent that has exactly what you're saying, where statistics are demonstrating that there's going to be tremendous growth, there's tremendous purchasing power, there's global alliances being put in place, and where we're now, some of us are now discovering that you have these massive conglomerates across Africa. And one example is with something that you've already seen in the recent media. You know, Dangote Industries and their IPO for the oil refinery.

1:40:09 I think it has caught a lot of people by surprise to see that, and to see that that is attracting billions of dollars from around the world. And that is another opportunity for Canada to engage and be part of that growth and be part of that success. But it does take boldness, it does take ambition, it does take creativity, commitment. And as I said, it doesn't have to be perfect. We have to see that there's something there that we trust and believe and understand that is going to generate greater growth and greater prosperity for both our countries and both our continents and we move forward. So I am hopeful. I've spent 6 years in West Africa because I did 4 years in Dakar, Senegal covering Francophone West Africa and now 2 years in Nigeria and I was seeing some of the amazing stuff that I only wish my own colleagues and peers and friends could see of the daily hustle, the daily push, the talent and the entrepreneurship. And I'll end with a story, if I may.

1:41:14 My concept of entrepreneurship has completely changed after my passage through Nigeria because I was of the view that in order to succeed at something, which is something that I've been taught from an early age and that I see my Canadian peers also looking through the same lens, is that you have to be good at 1 thing and you have to do it in a sustained manner for 20 years and hopefully you'll get to retirement and then you travel and then you succeed, right? But what I see in Nigeria is that the same person that is running a company is also running a family business, is also investing in a startup. On a weekend they have a side hustle where they are partnering with someone else to do another project, event management and then they have some other thing that they're starting. So they're doing 6 things at the same time and they're doing it successfully. So that's my model going forward. I want to be able to do multiple things at the same time and do it successfully, like many of my African friends, because there's not only Nigeria, it extends to other parts of Africa of course, But that to me was a beautiful essence to see that that entrepreneurship is a different model and as a result of that different model, it drives into a different place of success.

1:42:40 So I love it. Thank you. If I say something. So Carlos, it's called, would you let Baú know my story? Okay. As we hustle or something. I don't know. So, from the energy from Carlos, from his zeal, his hope, You know, sometimes it's so contagious. You stay around him, you have great hopes about Africa. To you speaking about billion dollar deals brokered on the African continent with partnerships with banks in Canada and the US and the rest. And to Steve, who believes, yes, billion deals, billion dollar deals, but start small with the SMEs. Ladies and gentlemen, it's been nice having you pay attention to this great gentleman and lady.

1:43:31 Want to thank you very much for listening. God bless you. Thank you so much to each of our panelists. And I in turn would like to thank on behalf of all of us, Dr. Chinedu, Zephaniah, for your wonderful moderation of such an energizing session. The title of this panel really focuses on legacy and the reason we opted as we created the program to take that approach was that legacy is something that is considered over the long run, but there's so much that happens every day in your businesses, quarter by quarter, day by day. And really the discussion today is to first and foremost go through what it is you're doing, how you're transforming and accelerating the trade relationship we're all discussing here, from the highest levels of government to the leading boardrooms, but then to go down on what that means for each one of you.

1:44:17 And so, Murali, if I may begin, we spent time together at a VIP trade and investment dinner with the Canadian government leadership in Nairobi, and you were there to launch 3 Magazine, the latest venture out of a number of ventures that you've had across your career. Just to recognize you, you've built significant educational capacity here in Canada. You've taken that and created international partnerships. So I just wanted to run through in that context, how you frame your day-to-day work, what that work is, and what that looks like in legacy 30 years from now as a 30 year old organization that we are today, Morali. Thank you, Gareth, and thank you, Sam, for joining me on this and all of you for attending today.

1:45:03 Really interesting conversations. I've really appreciated the panel speakers and some of the insights. When I think about legacy, 369 Global, we are focused on, there are many global challenges in the world. It is going to take global thinkers to address those global challenges. People who have the ability to have conversations between cultures and beyond borders. So at 369 Global, we focus on those global thinkers. How do we think about education for them? How do we think about information in terms of media for them? And I think most importantly, how do we think about activating them, encouraging them to take on these global challenges? So on the education side, as Gareth mentioned, we focus on our vocational training here in Toronto.

1:45:55 We also do this in, we've started doing this in Kenya since 2023, on the healthcare side and cybersecurity in India and the UAE. And on the media side, and hopefully many of you get a chance to grab a copy, is 3 Magazine. We do print, digital, podcasts, and events. I think the previous speakers and many of the conversations I've been hearing here is about some of the success stories that people have not heard. And I would ask you to consider, you might know some success stories in your own industry and your own space, but do you know the success stories outside of your space that are happening with African Canada? And I don't think that there's a lot of information there. There's a lot of success stories, but are you hearing that? I don't think so. These are global connections, global opportunities that are taking on global challenges, and through the magazine, we are telling those stories, through these podcasts, through these educational partnerships.

1:47:01 We're building the relationships, as one of the panel guests said, that are really going to help create this global conversations to address these global challenges. Fantastic. Thanks, Morali. Sam, from your perspective, I know we know you as a serial entrepreneur, and I've got to admit, when you emailed us about your latest venture, I had to check if it was really you, because this is an innovation in a company, and we had a session with you just 2 weeks ago for members that is really dramatically redefining the landscape when it comes to payment solutions and immediacy. So I'd like to ask you to take us through what it is that you're doing with the latest company. And then perhaps as you look at the room and you think about the partners here, such as banks and others, how you view these natural partnerships for next steps.

1:47:48 Thank you, Gareth, for the platform. And it's nice to be here with you, Burale. At SourcePay, primarily we're focused on enabling North American businesses pay and receive money from partners, mostly in the global south. So across Africa, that's where we have most of our concentration today, but also in Latin America and Asia as well. And before I go into why I started this latest venture, I want to start first of all with the macro level. If we look at it in the context of the conversations we've been having here for the last couple hours, it's a kind of Africa trade at the moment is about $15 billion a year, growing about 30% every 5 years.

1:48:39 And we're seeing like a significant influx. The first time when I moved here into Canada, you didn't see this many Africans, you know, in Toronto itself. And now we have over 1.3 million Africans here in Africa. You know, so at the top level, the question now is about if we're going to facilitate trade because we have most of the people here and also because of our own need as Canada to diversify our trading partners, on what rails will that run? We had recently the announcement of the air flights going on between Nigeria and Canada and Abidjan and Canada as well. But when it comes to payments, most of the payments are still running on the 1970s correspondent banking.

1:49:27 We're talking here of about 4% on average. Let's just make it easy. 4% is lost to friction, correspondent banking fees, suite fees. On that $1.5 billion, that's about $600 million that a Canadian company can hold in its pocket and its African counterparty can keep in its pockets. That's being paid out just for banks to send messages to 1 another. So that's the cost of the friction. But the most important thing, if you take that out from the economic transaction itself and look at it from a trade perspective, How do Canadian companies get paid back? That's the question. What I just told you about 4% is really it's easy for a Canadian company to pay into Africa, and you pay that 4% commission fee, not looking at the fixed fees like the local banks here will charge you and would also charge the recipient. But how do I get my money back from Africa?

1:50:23 In many of the African countries, because of the illiquid markets, FX is very hard to procure. Sometimes it can take you 1, 2 weeks to get the counterparty to pay you back. And the expected amount is meant to land in your Canadian bank. It's always shortened because of the fees along that line. So that is the macro, And that's the impact on the friction when it comes to Canada-African trade. For me personally, my first company, we're running it across 19 countries in Africa. I had team members. I mean, some of them you met in this new company in Nairobi the last time you went. And I had to pay them from either the US bank account or the Canadian bank account. And it was the same issues. 4% in some countries in East Africa, like Ethiopia, sometimes 13% fees lost before the council party actually receives the funds.

1:51:17 Sometimes the wires don't even land. I have to have it repeated again. And sometimes they won't just cancel it completely. And it destroys the trust. When there's a payroll that needs to be made on a Friday and you haven't done it, and your colleague in Africa is asking you, where's my money? So for us, we built StoreSpay internally as that plumbing to enable those transactions happen. And we have now productized it as its own company right now to also serve all the counterparties in Africa that are doing trade. If you're paying a freelancer in Africa, you're paying a supplier in Africa, an employee, a partner in Africa, you can use our platform. In under 4 or 5 minutes, it settles in the correspondent party.

1:52:06 We have freelancers today that use the platform. They don't even bother about settling into a local currency. They hold US dollars, British pounds. And they have a debit card against that that it can actually issue. So in sort of finalizing my introduction, when we look at it from my own perspective of what that means long term, it really means that if more companies can actually trade, because they can make a payment instantly and a local counterparty in Africa can use that money to hire someone else the next week or to actually buy more goods and services to export back into Canada. The Canadian companies are not afraid that there's a fraud risk of them having supplied a good and not having the payment back. And as a result of that, we can grow the trade between Canada and Africa.

1:52:56 That is what the future of a success and legacy would look like from my own perspective. Brilliant. Murali, in building that legacy, you know, what I really respect about individuals like yourself, there are those of us who have a connection to the continent, and then there are those who look at the world as it is and say, well, this is where the future is. How do you as a leader, as a CEO in a company that's got a global presence, redirect and make the case for Africa? And in terms of that narrative, I know what you're seeking to do is it's not to change the narrative, it's to recognize reality as it is, and bring others up to speed with the truthful reality. So just sort of talk us through because we and I say this in the context of us speaking to bank CEOs in Canada who you know I think are moving in a direction of seeing what's in it the ready knows and others know. But what what what do you say as we bring Canadian companies and teams into the forefront of this Canada-Africa trade and investment relationship?

1:53:57 That's an easy question. Look, I think when I was in Kenya just recently with you, Gareth, I also attended a business conference of local African business owners as well as some foreign investors. Many of them said, you go into these countries thinking, having a certain perception and people come with this attractive product or service. But first and foremost, you have to understand the market and you have to listen and learn. And so many of them said they had this idea, especially those foreign investors that came in. They had this idea.

1:54:43 But it was like 5 years later that they actually had the right product that was of interest to the market. And I think there's also, if I may, this generational divide. I'm 47, so I feel like I'm in the middle somewhere there. But I think there's a lot of folks that have are working with traditional, you know, financial institutions or what have you. And then you have things like what Sam is doing that is cross border payments that seem like a no brainer, especially for a lot of gig workers, which is a huge generation that's tapping into that. And that generation cannot understand why these big institutions that have the money are not moving fast enough.

1:55:33 And I think the same thing about innovations that are happening in Africa, M-Pesa in Kenya is another example of a hugely innovative product. And then to have someone come to Canada and then have to do a wire or, you know, it's so nonsensical. And then we have the audacity to say, where is your Canadian experience to many of these people, right? Where is your global experience? I would counter with. So I think our interest in Africa, and I was privileged and lucky enough because of the support I had growing up in Canada to also be able to work overseas. And that really opened my eyes to the innovation and the things that were happening. I think North America thinks it is the world.

1:56:22 And then I went to the actual world and found out the exciting things that are happening. And Africa is one of the places that has the youngest population. And just with the infrastructure and sometimes opportunities of infrastructure, it forces innovations, innovations that can be applied here in Canada. And I want to be a part of that. I want to be involved in that energy. I want to support those businesses and see the talent. My first step in Kenya, and I haven't been everywhere in Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa are my current experiences. But the talent is absolutely tremendous and being in the education space, being in media, I want to be plugged into that.

1:57:11 And congrats on establishing firm roots starting with Kenya, it's absolutely awesome. Quick question, so maybe not that quick Sam, but if I could just deviate slightly from the business itself to your experience financing this business and getting backing. Is it correct to paraphrase a discussion that you had with us about a month ago to say that when you went in front of venture capitalists and early stage investors here in North America, they said, we love what you're doing, but can you focus it on a market that we're more familiar with? And obviously your answer is no. This is the market where the future lies. But can you talk us through that experience, especially for those looking to raise capital or co-raise capital for ventures in North America, whether they be new African entrepreneurs who've been welcomed into Canada or individuals who are setting up subsidiaries here, but they remain on African soil, running their headquarters from there.

1:58:04 My background raising capital, I've raised north of $15 million across my ventures. The least funded is actually this. You know, the first company was Far ahead of its time in terms of AI, we started that just as I finished college in the US about 10 years ago. And we built the first, the world's 1st AI spectrometer for quality check-in. It was within the context of raising for that in San Francisco that the Americans told me, hey, we love what you're doing. This is far ahead of its time. Do it here in the US. What are you doing in Africa? They don't have any money, you know. But cycling back 10 years after with store-spare, the conversation is slightly different. You know, it's actually easier to raise money now. I was able to raise funding for this in New York because the African story is an easier story now for the capital space here.

1:58:58 And obviously I expect it to get better, especially with the IPO that Dangote recently did, and the broad macro stability of the last 10 years. Efficient democracies, repeat democracies in terms of elections, less broad conflict on the ground, successful bond race across several sovereign markets. So I'll say for many immigrants who have moved into North America, it's actually easier now than it was 10 years ago to raise capital. And that process, when it comes to the nitty gritty of that process, it's at the end of the day, it's typically the size of the market. For North American investors, it's not so much anymore about the counterparty risk or the sovereign risk. I think there's enough information now amongst the investing public here in North America about how to price that risk in Africa.

1:59:55 So mostly at the end of the day, when a VC is looking at whether this makes sense or not, the question about it is more about the size of the market. That's the first thing. And the second question that we typically want to go down on is your retention. Because if you just end up with 1 transaction per time, and that one transaction takes, what, another 30 days, 60 days, It's not really very interesting from an economic perspective. For the VC investments, it's different if you're going with the more growth scale investors. But for VC investors, they're looking more about growth. How fast can you actually grow the business so they can exit to the next investor. So part of what we're looking at there is your retention economics. How many people who did a first transaction doing the second one and what's the velocity of that? You know, I've been able to provide at least some of that economics for a minimum of 6 to 12 months. That's typically the information they need. And then lastly, finding the best accelerators out there that can support you.

2:01:00 My first business, I was with SOSV, is the world's leading hardware company. And with them, I went to China to build the first prototype of the business of the hardware. This was paying, I was with Textors in New York. We got JP Morgan investing alongside them into us. So really having that sort of counterparty invest on networks through the accelerators, that would help open doors as well. Brilliant. And that's amazing to see just the last 10 years and the trends you've observed. Number 1, great for legacy, but 2, bucking some of the general trends where we're hearing conversation that's not specific to Africa, speaking about financing sometimes becoming more difficult, but clearly that's not the direction on the Africa file in your experience.

2:01:47 Murali, true to the name, 369 Global, you've got a very macro view. And I know you've been a key part of many trade missions in the Asia Pacific region. I think Canada's deepening trade ties and the massive accelerated growth, let's say in recent past 10 years has been noteworthy by many, but clearly the trend and the new possibilities in Africa, and you're at the forefront of that. From a legacy perspective, what does business need to do? Because government's already spoken in detail on this. What does business need to do to realize this opportunity and what is the advice that you give to the CEOs who didn't come today who are behind the curve as all of us would argue when it comes to actually ensuring the success and growth of their companies anchored in trade with the African continent?

2:02:39 Why would I encourage them to go to Africa? Is that? Yeah. What are the key things you tell them behind the closed doors? Yeah. Behind the closed doors on this open forum. Okay. I mean, definitely it's the understanding of long term commitment. In any market that you go to, there's going to be challenges you need to pivot. And entrepreneurs should know that. And, you know, going to Africa or any other country you have to understand those dynamics but if you look statistically at demographics at innovation I mean if you're not in Africa you're I know not doing global business, in my opinion. And the young talent there, again, I'm going to emphasize on is innovative.

2:03:29 Nations are talking about this entrepreneurial energy. It's in Africa. So If you can tap into those talent and again listen on how we can support these innovations. Sam brought up someone poached him and brought him to the US. And if I can be so bold, Sam was diplomatic about North American investors. But the Canadian investment and VC space is horrendous. It's horrendous. And I think there's opportunities for growth there for startups that are doing business here in Canada, but also looking to do business in Africa. Because as government has been talking about and Prime Minister Carney has really been pushing forward on which I very much align with, is tapping into our diaspora and using them to establish these global trade partnerships.

2:04:32 So that goes back to investment in our diaspora organizations. And I think, you know, maybe I'm being a little bit harsh, Canadian investors are keen to do that, but we need to move a lot faster. We have competitive term sheets that come but they take too long. We need to move fast and business owners you know are the US moves fast. They're quick to support you financially and and they look for great talent and AI, quantum computing, all of the research and the talent is in Canada, but the commercialization is missing. So I think finding the right partners as you go into these markets is also important because you can't go alone.

2:05:23 Local partners, financial partners, I think are quite critical. Hopefully I wasn't too bold, Gareth. This is an Africa-Canadian forum. And I think those, I mean that's... You said closed doors. Closed doors. So we've opened it up. But I think the important point around moving with speed is one that we hear regularly. I'd welcome either of you to give some reflections to those joining us who are looking to expand from the African continent into North America through Canada and setting up subsidiaries. So if you have any advice on that. Again, Cheryl Urban, Assistant Deputy Minister, spoke about the inbound investment that we can welcome and that is urgently, you know, prerogative for Canada. So any thoughts on that would be great. But going back to legacy, you know, you mentioned 47, so let's go 10 years from now and you're approaching 60.

2:06:13 Talk us about the everyday work and what the legacy is that you're looking to leave when it comes to the Canada-Africa relationship and the role of 369 Global and actually making that a reality? Yeah, I think the previous panel talked about relationships and I'm gonna go back to that. And look, my kids are mixed. My wife is 0.5 Russian, 0.5 Ukrainian. They're in a very global world and it is critical to me in terms of legacy to do business, to create spaces where there's global conversations and people respected for their different opinions. So I think for us at 369 Global, we want to continue to tap into this talent and we believe that Canada is a leader in those conversations, being a very nurturing space with our multicultural policy and multicultural society and the freedoms to be able to worship, practice, experience our culture.

2:07:20 That at the end of the day, I don't think it's our, I mean, of course our natural resources, et cetera, are important, but who are the people that are making those decisions? And when you have a multicultural community, global thinkers that understand the needs of Nigeria and the needs of Canada, the needs of Kenya, the needs of Canada, those people that are Kenyan Canadians, Nigerian Canadians, Ukrainian Canadians, That's where we should be investing in in those people because they will make the decisions that can really lead us out of some of the global challenges that we have. When I think about legacy, I hope my kids say that I was a part of that.

2:08:06 And they're not going to remember me with any hair or anything like that, but hopefully they remember some of the actions. And I think there's this saying, wise is the person that plants the seeds knowing they're not going to taste the fruit. I hope the seeds that I'm planting are, you know, delicious fruit for them in terms of this global perspective. No, thanks very much, Morali. And I just want to say to the people in the room who share these visions and the fact that you put resources and time and travel and effort behind it is just a testament to your leadership. So thank you. Thank you. Alex, for you, What does this look like? Are there GDP numbers that you're looking to transform in this bigger vision of making financing and cross-border payments easier? How do you what motivates you? What's what did you sell to your investors?

2:09:01 Yeah, I mean, for me, it's about tying into the Canadian government's vision. You know, we heard Carlos earlier saying about doubling trade between Canada and Nigeria. I'm also aware, Cheryl also mentioned yesterday and today as well, the current government is looking to diversify Canada's trade. And if we were to just use the bottom pack of numbers Carlos shared, we can grow from $15 billion to the Canada-African trade to $30 billion in the next 10 years, then a big majority of that running on our rail, obviously, that would be what I would term a big success from a legacy perspective in being able to contribute to my country's goal of diversifying trade and increasing where Africa sits in that bucket. But sort of circling back as well to the question you had asked about how Canadian companies work to do if they were looking into Africa, typically I would say the first thing is really to choose 1 market first.

2:10:13 Even for us at Storz Pay, Despite my prior experience with my first company, I still went after a block approach. You met my colleague in Nairobi. She leads East Africa division. We have another person in Nigeria who leads our anglophone Africa outside of East Africa. So she does all the small anglophone countries all the way down to South Africa as well as Nigeria and then we have one in Dakar that does the CFA region. But that's because I have the experience, you know, of being in the market. But if you're a Canadian company looking first into the market, pick 1 country. You know, typically you do that market sizing, see how big the trade flow is in your industry and choose that market.

2:11:03 And find a distributor partner. Distributor partners could be actual distributors, but it could also be chambers, chambers of business, like the Canada Africa Chamber, chapters on the ground, or partners, like for example, the ones we have in Cote d'Ivoire. That was the second thing. And then thirdly, hire someone local. Very important because the local team members, the fact that they can speak the language. Even though I am of African origin, we have how many languages in Africa? Like several hundreds? And she, like the lady you met in Nairobi, she has been able to open doors that I would not, with Queen's English, be able to open. You should open it with Swahili. So that's the importance of having someone on the ground to be able to help you lead. And then lastly, leverage the diaspora we have here.

2:11:54 Board, at the micro level, I'm speaking at the micro level for businesses, but also at the macro level for the government and government officials are in the room. I'm circling back to that number. There's 1.3 million Africans in Canada today. I was telling a lady yesterday, I love to sell. So you will find me, I go, I was last week in Texas with East Africa, the East Africa board, in various Jollof festivals all over the place. You see me manning the boots. But it's not just selling. It's the fact that I'm getting information about what Africans are doing in the US and Canada. And I think some of that trade, the small businesses that are buying like a local cloth and they're bringing here, bringing the local food from Africa and selling to the communities here, some of that trade might not be captured in the official statistics.

2:12:45 And that's where our government officials should be sending the trade commissioners to To support those small businesses to get them in the radar, you know, and then to leverage them as counterparty assessors You know because they have the networks on the ground in Africa and it can help our big business here in Canada, vet, vet those third parties they want to do business with. So and same way it happens at a macro level is the same way the micro businesses can also take that. So I'll end with that. Thank you. Brilliant. And in closing, I mean, thank you for letting me put each of you on the spot, so to speak, no sort of beating around the bush. But I do want to ask each one of you, and I'll put the Chamber on the spot here, as part of building this legacy.

2:13:31 We know we've had 33 years of the Chamber. What do you think the role of the Chamber should be? What do you like? What do you want to see more of? And speaking to fellow members, speaking to governments who take time to be here, what is your ask in that spirit of partnership and realizing these incredibly bold ambitions? Murali, if I may ask you to kick off. I was hoping he'd go with you first. I think, look, I think many of the big conglomerates, you know, have the resources, have the insights to enter these markets. And there's a lot of support and there needs to be a lot of support before, you know, small business, maybe infrastructure or things like that. But 90% of Canada's GDP is small and medium businesses.

2:14:19 How are we supporting them? And when I I'm I'm a small player coming in there with my own investments, you know, I'm so grateful the ADM was mentioning getting all of these Canadian organizations together in 1 room so that we can understand. Like it's so complicated. I want to focus on delivering my business, my product and service to the best ability I can, listening and learning. And if on both sides, on the African continent and on the Canadian side, if we can support small business and those collaborations, like that's where momentum and impact is going to happen. And those are, there are many more stakeholders.

2:15:05 So that takes time. And those are important conversations to have. But I think if we really want to make impact, that's where the focus should be. Brilliant, thank you. For the chamber, yeah. For the chamber, for sure. To bridge those conversations, you asked me about the chamber. But just a personal experience, Gareth. And you didn't pay me for this one. So that's my disclaimer. But we went to Kenya in 2023. And just kind of went there to explore, to listen and learn. And we were lucky to meet some partners there and to do some good work. But this recent trip, you know, partnering with the Chamber and really launching our magazine because we wanted to tell an important story. Introducing us to the right kind of folks to have the right conversations.

2:15:55 And again, they're also to listen and learn. And as you were saying, Sam, to align with what is the Canadian government looking for? Getting those insights because we're really trying hard. We're not trying to push against the grain. We're trying to align. But getting that information is really helpful to us and the Chamber helped facilitate that for 369 Global and a wonderful event like this. So thank you to the chamber and thank you for all of you who participate here because I think the chamber can have these policies and events, but again, it comes down to the people and the conversations we have. Thanks, Morali. Alex, close us off. Thank you. Gareth, I've known you now almost 10 years. You know, the first time I got to meet you was when Bruce was still the president here. And then we had Spill as well, Spill Gabra.

2:16:48 So in terms of what I think we should start first by congratulating you. I promise this was not a scripted question but thank you. Yes, congratulating. That is a team effort really. Yes, but I'm speaking from the perspective of having seen what this chamber was 10 years ago and what it is now. Big difference is the missions that you've been doing to Africa, really helping the Canadian private sector get a feel for what Africa is. You know, and I think part of that work I talked about, being able to price risk. You know, you help fix that for Canadian businesses. Because a lot of the things, I forget the name, I think it was Jacqueline, the Zenit bank lady who was here, she talked about perception of risk is really just a perception.

2:17:40 And I'm not saying there's no risk in Africa. There is risk. But it's blown out of proportion if you don't get a feel for it. The businesses don't leave Canada with our safe culture here and go on the ground there and really see how people do business on the ground so they can price that into the models. Those missions have been fantastic. And I think that's one thing we can pat ourselves on the back for having done well. In terms of where I think we should be looking at next, At the meeting we had with Cheryl yesterday, it was a question around the KPIs. You know, same question for the chamber. What do we want to measure those missions by? You know, and I think if I was to propose, it would probably be the number of transactions that we're able to SPAC off, the dollar value of those transactions, and how much of that dollar value trade is coming back into Canada. I think those are numbers that if we can feed to the ADM's department, to the government, you know, can really help to show that Canada-Africa versus any of the other corridors, this is how fast we're growing.

2:18:52 This is how we're contributing to it. And this is why you should prioritize this corridor versus others. And I think that's how I would suggest for us to move forward with. It's just been my 2 cents reflection. And then lastly, from my own personal perspective, I think I used to live here in Toronto, you know, as I said to you, and I had a chance last night to go around. I left early because I wanted to go around and see the nice places. I used to walk out of the WeWork just here, you know, and went to the Eaton Centre, you know. I love my country. I love Canada. We have something special here. And I can say it because now I live in a different country.

2:19:44 I give the example, when I first moved here in Canada, the person at the airport, then when you come in as an immigrant, they give you these papers that teaches you about Canada. And you know what he said to me? He said, welcome home. And I can never forget that. I can never forget it. And the first time I went to the Scarborough Town Center, everyone was holding the door for me. I had never seen that in my life. So I wanted to experience that because in New York, no one cares. They throw the, they push you, they shove you. And I wanted to experience that again. This is the beauty about Canada. I don't want us to lose it Because yes, we can go after trade, we can go after commercialization, but we should not lose our values because that's what differentiates us.

2:20:40 And I want the Canadian companies to take that into the market because everywhere I've been to, when they hear you're Canadian, the respect you get is different than any of the other countries. The other countries we know. Yes, both here and on the other side. You know, we are the nice ones and we're the good ones and we need to keep that. Thank you. Thank you so much Alex. Thank you Morali. Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our panel. Deeply, deeply appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you Morali. Well in the spirit of Canadian values and that wonderful story for those of us like myself, who are fortunate to become a part of Canada like many of you. It's wonderful to visit countries across the continent where we see these values lived out. And Namibia is 1 such example where the company B2Gold, to which I'm pleased to welcome Neil Reid in a moment, B2Gold's been operating quietly, diligently with I think a 97, 98% local workforce and the biggest taxpayer in the country, which I would boast about, but it's a humble Canadian firm getting on with it and really, I think, exemplifying a lot of what's been discussed on the panel today. So Neil Reader, who's about to present to us and take us into lunch, is doing 2 things that I think are critically important.

2:22:01 One is taking us through what inaction Canadian investment and partnership looks like in a country, and in this case in Namibia, though of course you by no means operate only in Namibia. We know there's been great success and work in Mali. But secondly, we were in Namibia earlier this year in Vintook, and we will be hosting, as of now, consider this, to all the media as well watching from Vintook and across Namibia today, the launch and announcement for our next Canada Africa Business Conference, the 2nd to the 4th of February taking place, both in the capital as well as up in Oshiketo. We'll split the program across 2 destinations and not just conference and talk, but actually go and see what it looks like to have investment and mining and trade diversification in a wonderful African market. Neil, if I may introduce you very quickly, you spent your life in public service to Canada. You served as ambassador to many countries, including the Philippines as Consul General, and we've been received well as an individual who's been recognized for that service. But instead of retiring, you took up the mantle to go and continue those values in the private sector. And as Vice President of B2Gold, as a special advisor to this chamber, I want to thank you for your role in accelerating Canada-Africa trade and investment. Ladies and gentlemen, Vice President B2Gold, Neil Reader.

2:23:22 Well, let me return the favour, Gareth, because I would like to express my sincere appreciation for all the good work that you do and your team. For our visitors from Canada and from Africa, you know, this comes together through the good work of Gareth and people behind the scenes who've been very, very diligent in pushing the Canada-Africa agenda. Those of us in B2Gold as an international miner, we deal in countries across the world, various regions, and I tell people that there is no regional business association as effective as this one. This one brings people out, it takes them to various missions to Africa, it has that tremendous presence at PDAC as we all know, and that I think sets this chamber apart, and credit to Gareth, Paula, the entire team for all the good work that they do because it really does it really does have an impact.

2:24:25 So what I'm going to do and actually that previous panel was kind of a nice segue to what I wanted to talk about, because yes, indeed, B2Gold actually sees itself as the best of Canada represented abroad. We have said to governments across the world that we believe we bring the best of Canadian values, sustainable mining investment, responsible investment to those countries where we operate. And we've been very, very successful as a company and we're proud of what we've achieved. In this case, it's a complete flipping of a normal investment story because we have just opened our newest mine, which is in Canada.

2:25:13 We started as an international miner, became a Canadian miner, and now we, of course, do both. So I will, I'll get the gizmos ready here. Have I got the gizmo? Yes, I do. So Cautionary statement, I don't like to make jokes about lawyers when the lawyers are hosting the event. But the joke here is that this is what happens when you give a lawyer a pen. It's basically saying that some of the material I present may be forward-looking and subject to change. So the next slide, just to take a quick glance, this is kind of the worldview of B2 Gold.

2:26:00 So left to right, our newest mine is in Back River, the Back River Gold District, which is an 85-kilometer belt with some of the highest gold grades we've ever seen as a company. In western Nunavut, for those not familiar, if you're standing in Edmonton or say Saskatoon and you look 1500 kilometers north, you'll find this mine on the Arctic Circle above the treeline, completely isolated. All of the material comes by barge and vessel out of the St. Lawrence into the Northwest Passage and down into the mine site by a 160-kilometer ice road. And it's just like you see on television.

2:26:45 It actually exists. We have produced this ice road. All of the material comes in over the space of about 6 weeks when that ice road is safe for heavy traffic. We also bring a lot of material in from Yellowknife by Hercules at very great cost, but primarily it comes from sea shipping. Head office, Vancouver, about 250 employees. We have over 6,000 employees worldwide. Down at the bottom, The Gran Velote project is sort of the apple in our eye right now. We are looking at an investment decision next year, which would bring us back to Latin America. We started our first investments were in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. So we have had some familiarity with the region. I did myself with 2 postings, including ambassador to 3 countries in Central America.

2:27:39 I would love to go back, and the contract team is very excited after building a mine in Nunavut, they can hardly wait to get to Colombia, where your temperature goes from minus 50 to plus 30. That's sort of, we're looking at that right now. 2 mines in Africa. So over 50% of our global production as a miner comes from Africa, the Mali mine and the mine in Namibia. Those are our 2 most important mines, although the Ojokoto mine is starting to move towards end of life in mine. Exploration, we have a 70 million dollar U.S. Exploration budget globally. Kazakhstan, we've just opened an office. We started early exploration in Central Asia.

2:28:27 And we just opened an office in Suriname, in Paramaribo, the capital. And we're looking now at Guyana as a potential next opportunity. Geologically, and I'm not a geo, but the trend lines of the geological formations in West Africa emerge in the very top end of South America. And as a result, we find the same formations and potential at the top end of South America that we see in West Africa. And then the last mine there is the Masbadi mine in the Philippines, and I'll come back to that. Very successful mine. This is a quick snapshot of production.

2:29:13 We're essentially a senior gold producer, just under currently 1 million ounces of production. And as you can see, Africa of course is very important, the Fokola mine and the Ojikodo mine in terms of our global production. So just a few points, I've touched on some of this B2Gold at a glance. You know our record annual revenue last year it's very impressive the company has done very well and again we project the best of Canada and Canadian values abroad. We're very proud of that. That photo on the right is one of our pits in Nunavut. And that could be about 35 below that day.

2:30:03 A quick look at our people. We hire local, we train local, we advance locals. Our core identity revolves around as much as possible hiring local people and training them to take on operations in the mine and 1 day run the mine without expat labor. In the case of Namibia we've got like 3 or 4 percent of our staff are expat, the rest are Namibian And that's as it should be because you want the skill transfer, the technology transfer, the benefit to accrue to those people who live in the country. You'll also see our senior management figures across the globe, about 62% local, which is very, very good.

2:30:54 On EDI, we're not bad if you look at the far left number. In the mining sector, traditionally, as Canadians will appreciate, it's hard to recruit women into some of the mining professions. We're doing okay, but that figure is one that we would like to see improve a bit. So just a quick snapshot of the mine in Ojikoto. This mine is transitioning. The numbers of employees are quite low because we've hit the end of life of mine in the open pit, and now we're moving to underground. It's called the Antelope Discovery, which will be coming on stream next year. We'll be hiring underground miners, and that is another challenge because Namibia does not have a strong underground mining experience like South Africa.

2:31:49 And as a result, we've had to bring in South Africans because the Namibian talent pool is a bit thin. But it's been a very successful, very successful mine. I show you this slide because people don't always appreciate the economic benefit of mining. Just look at those numbers, the employee wages and benefits, 34 million US dollars annually in impact directly into the economy in wages and benefits. Payments to government in Namibia, $222 million, US. So we are the largest taxpayer in the country ahead of the uranium industry. Community investments and procurement is important because again, we are very supportive of government efforts in Africa to generate as much local procurement as possible.

2:32:44 We will procure everything we can in country, unless it's a Caterpillar, tractor, truck made in Illinois. I mean, there are limits to what you can procure as a miner, but we are doing what we can. And those numbers are actually higher in some of our other mines. So these are important points. I would say that, you know, mining in Namibia, 14% of the GDP, very, very significant. And the new president, Dutumbo, we're very happy. We've met with her. We'll meet her again in February when we're there for the mission that Gareth talked about. She's very supportive of mining. The president has a commitment to youth employment. You've got a huge challenges in Namibia, 40% plus unemployed youth.

2:33:34 And she sees mining as a vector, as a means by which that they can train and hire young people into the sector. So she's very supportive. We are supportive and we're working with the government to do what we can to generate more opportunities and training for the people to join the mining sector. This is a little more of a mining slide, but just for people to be aware. Now B2 Gold ownership, that's interesting, 90%. Under Namibian law, we partner with Black empowerment groups or companies that will be a 10% owner in the project. This case, it's Ebi, Dr. Angala is our joint venture partner, and they are benefit 10% directly in all the benefits that accrue to the company. Very good partnership, it gives an opportunity for Namibian businesses to advance.

2:34:35 We also have a program to support previously disadvantaged persons at the mine who suffered under apartheid or their families suffered under apartheid with the lack of opportunity. So we identify black employees who we see as potential managers. We train them, advance them within the mine so that they can move further up the ranks representing their community in the mine operations. So a quick look next at the Focola mine. This is the big baby. This is half of our production. You'll see this is a tremendous economic impact from this mine. You know, we're operating in Mali, it's a very complicated environment.

2:35:27 We have not lost any mine time or production due to the security situation. Again, we operate in the very far west of the country along the border with Senegal. We have a good relationship with the Malian government and we try to separate the mine activities from the tensions in the country, and try to understand the government what they're trying to do, and at the same time, reinforce the point that We are a very, very significant investor. You look at the economic benefits, $640 million US annually in payments to governments in Mali. That is a huge figure. That does not include Barrack, that does not include Resolute, That does not include others.

2:36:19 We were told at one point in Mali that between Barrack and B2 Gold, our net payments to governments pay for the entire civil service of the country. I suspect that's probably true. So just to say, this is a very significant impact. $100 million US in wages and benefits. You can imagine the impact on families in a country with Mali, which among the lowest per capita revenue in Africa. So again, quite significant, and we believe these are very, very important benefits. Just another slide on Focola. On the right-hand side on the map, you will see the location of the mine. Basically, we can see Senegal from our mining camp.

2:37:07 It's just right across the Fallem River, which has been severely disrupted by ASM artisanal mining, but that's another conversation. And again, a very, very important production for us in Mali. Under the new mining code, Mali now 35% of revenues flow to the government of Mali. So we have a new Fekola regional project, which will be producing about 150,000 ounces a year. That falls under the new mining code so it's a 65-35 joint venture with the government of Mali. This mine has now produced 4 million ounces, so it's quite significant. Just going back to Canada, a quick look at the Back River.

2:37:59 This has been quite a remarkable story, apart from the logistics of building a mine up there. We've established very good relations with the Inuit leadership in Nunavut, including with the Premier, his cabinet, and with the Kittikmit Inuit Association, which governs the far Western part of Nunavut, where we operate. We met the premier and the premier of Yukon here in Toronto a few weeks back at the investment summit that Prime Minister Carney hosted, had a very good discussion with them, and we're very, very pleased with this partnership. And again, Nunavut is, you know, there's a lot of similarities. Nunavut is like Namibia, highly dependent on the mining sector in terms of their GDP, about the same figure percentage-wise.

2:38:49 So it's been a really exciting mine for us, totally isolated. The nearest community to our goose mine is 450 kilometers away. That's Cambridge Bay. The rest of it is pure tundra. The only visitors we get are once a year, a hunter or a trapper comes by looking for spare parts or gasoline for the snowmobile. We get caribou coming through. We get wolves coming through. We get Wolverine, but we do not get many people and there are no communities to speak of. So across the Kittikmeet region where we operate, there are 5 communities. We're already engaged, as I'll show you, in some community projects there, because I hate to say it as a Canadian, but the socioeconomic indicators in Nunavut are not much different than some very bleak corners of Africa.

2:39:49 It's very sad, it's a sad reflection on our country, but that is the reality that we face, especially housing and access to food and other services is minimal. This is just the Philippines mine, I won't go into this one, but again a very steady producing mine. We call it the little mine that could. It continues to produce 200,000 ounces a year. We've now developed some new projects and an exploration around the mine site. And during the Team Canada mission to Manila 2 years ago, with Canada's Trade Minister, we announced the opening of a new exploration office in the Philippines. And we are now exploring in southern Philippines in the Mindanao area.

2:40:39 Just a quick look at exploration and again I touched a bit on this. About 77 million dollars for exploration budget worldwide, 55 million being spent in Canada. On the far right, the grassroots, I mentioned Kazakhstan and Philippines regional, and we can also include now Suriname and Guyana in that as well. I'm going to turn to sustainability now and just talk a bit about some of this very interesting work that we have established across the mines in Africa that we have also are bringing back to Canada. I like to say that it's moving south to north and in that retrospect what we've learned in Africa we're now applying in Nunavut.

2:41:31 So there's so sort of our focus of some of our work, that responsible closure, that's early closure planning and reforestation, mine rehabilitation in Namibia. So this slide I just wanted to show you, already working in northern Canada, some of the initiatives that we're undertaking. The big challenge we find is that It's, we want to hire and train. The challenge is retention. Inuit traditionally are on the land, they live on the land, they move on the land, they like to be on the land. And the idea of 2 weeks in, 2 weeks out, working in an industrial setting, you have your nice in the camp, you've got everything you could imagine, wonderful food, your own room, basketball courts, gym, everything, but it is a cultural shock for them to work and retention of the Inuit staff has been a big challenge for us, but we continue to push.

2:42:39 We will hire every Inuit that wants to work with us and gets properly trained. So we have about 240 now, which isn't bad, but you'll see those programs that are linked to supporting them in their career development and trying to retain them. So for example, here's, I talked about challenges in the North, This housing program that we've announced, $10 million for new housing for the 5 communities in the Ketikmian. On the left, our former CEO, Clive Johnson, signed the MOU in April with the housing Minister of Nunavut. On the right, again, we started doing tech voc training in Mali. When we came into Mali and set up the Focola mine, we began to train the local folks on basic skills, carpentry, welding, etc., And then tried to bring some of them to work in the mine quite successfully.

2:43:40 And then they've also developed skills. So if you can become an electrician to some degree, you can find a lot of work in communities like that, but that's the set Skill set that you have to develop so we started this program in Africa and now it's in Canada so the redfish art studio is essentially a voc tech training facility for young men who are going to become welders, and they will eventually work in the mine, and they will get hopefully Red Seal certification 1 day. I should say these people are also very, very vulnerable. These young boys, we call them at risk in the Canadian context. They had issues with the law, they've had issues with drugs, they're kind of on the line and I believe that we've kept them from going south, they've gone north, and now they have developed into potentially very prosperous careers. So we're very proud of that.

2:44:46 So just turning to Mali, these just highlighting some of our social investments, health education, water and also micro SMEs. We've had a lot of success with these programs, focusing a lot on agriculture because I think the best way to sustain communities is teaching them to do what they do best, which in rural Mali means agriculture. So we focus quite a bit of work in that area, farm fishing, agricultural projects that feed the communities, but they can also export their little projects out and sell them on the market, and they've done very, very well. So we're very pleased with that. We've also taken advantage of relocation.

2:45:32 So when we started to look at the mine site, we had to move about 6,000 people away from the mine area because of dust, noise, pollution, etc. The government of Mali said, well, we'll help you. We'll just move them somewhere else and they'll build up a village and start again." We said, no, that's not the way we operate. So we committed 20 million U.S. And we built them a new home called New Fadugu, which has got about 10,000 people now. It was a very, kind of a Canadian version of a Malian village. Now it looks more Malian than Canadian as it should, but it is now a fully functioning community for all these folks who had to leave the mine site area. The beauty of that project is we brought in solar panels and every village home has a solar panel.

2:46:26 So every child, instead of trying to read at night by candle to be able to continue their studies at the school. They now have solar and solar batteries so that they can they have storage which allows them light to be able to study at night. And of course the grades have gone up. The school has better retention of students by virtue of solar and that opportunity it provides for proper studies. There's some interesting work going on on the artisanal miner side. The FEMA project is 1 that Global Affairs and B2Gold and others have been involved in for a number of years. I believe it ends this year or next, but basically providing living conditions and security for women and children who live in the artisanal mining areas.

2:47:21 They're very vulnerable, they're subject to abuse, exploitation. We provide them with safe living spaces, we provide them with areas where the children can play safely, and microcredits and a number of programs focusing on the women and children. You can see in that photo how young the kids are who are in those artisanal areas, and they're not safe because they're tunneling down. Tunnels collapse. It's not, it's not good. We've worked with the government of Mali to deal with this. It's a major livelihood challenge because it is a livelihood, as our friends from Africa will know. This is a very important means for subsistence for a lot of people.

2:48:10 The other project in Mali which is just cooking and I'm talking or will be talking to our friends from Global Affairs. The World Gold Council wants to explore what they're calling an ASM corridor, which would be basically World Gold Council, B2Gold, potentially global affairs, creating corridors where you would move small miners away from using mercury to separate the gold, and or we would take their raw ore, we would process, we would pay them. And we of course process the ore with cyanide under very restrictive conditions. The idea being get the small miners away from that kind of scene and get them away from mercury, which can be devastating if you're a lifetime of dealing with mercury every day in your hands.

2:49:07 And this project is just evolving. So, but it is being driven by the World Gold Council. We had a similar project in Nicaragua, where we took the gold from the small mining cooperatives, they brought it to a tiny, a small mill that we set up, we processed their ore, paid them, they went home happy. We processed in a safe environment and not using mercury. So that's some of the good work that we're doing with our colleagues from Global Affairs, ex-colleagues. On the Namibia best practices, just some examples of some of the good work we're doing. Again, education, water, enterprise development. We're very proud of the second tier there, the Umbili Primary School Health Clinic.

2:49:56 This is on the outskirts of Vintook. So in this case, what they call in Namibia the informal settlements, the women did not have access to a doctor. They had to take buses for a long bus ride. They couldn't afford in some cases the bus fare. So we built a clinic which is focused on men and women, but primarily women. So it was a project that comes back to the old CETA days when CETA used to actually fund infrastructure. That's what we did. We took 1 million US, we built the clinic, handed the keys to the government of Namibia, health department and said, it's over to you.

2:50:42 They staffed it with their doctors and nurses. Doctor comes in every week and all these villagers, well outside of Vintook, they've got access within a few blocks now to health services, which is phenomenal. And that's made a very important impact on their daily lives. The other project, again, the same idea with the health clinic. 1 million US. We gave the keys to the Ministry of Health, and they've now provided the same, sorry, with the primary school, the same situation, 1 million dollars US each. Very, very successful. And those kids are doing very well, and we send delegations up to visit that school because we're very proud of that. Again, the Otavio Water Project as well. These are important, very, very important grassroots projects that we support, and just as we will do in Northern Canada and other places where we operate.

2:51:40 This next slide, just on the education side, very significant digital education. We began this in Namibia as an initiative from B2Goal. This has been picked up by the Ministry of Education of Namibia, so we're now able to provide these smart boards, which are getting broadcast via satellite of education, training courses, et cetera. For kids, especially, Namibia is a huge country, small population, many, many isolated villages. And in that sense, this has been a godsend for a lot of families. I'm particularly proud that if people know the sand, the sand culture, 15,000 years they have lived in Africa. They are very isolated communities heading up towards the Okavango Delta. They had no schools.

2:52:32 So we first of all built them a school and then we've now provided this facility so they can get classes by satellite. It's worked very well. The second one is very close to my heart. This is a essentially an orphanage. This is on the border between Namibia and Angola, one of the most isolated parts of Africa as far as lack of opportunity, a lot of people moving back and forth across those borders, just not a lot good happening, and this creates a whole orphan population. So those children there were essentially taken off the street, they were orphans, they would have ended up in very, very bad situations on the street, girls and boys, and they were brought into this school, they've now been trained, they've got uniforms, they're studying, we provide the teachers, There's German donors that also contribute to this project.

2:53:34 And we bequeathed 100,000 US a year to this school in honor of Mark Daw, who was a former CEO of B2Gold Namibia, who passed away sadly. And in his name, we're now making an ongoing assistance to this program. The school has done so well that now members from the local community want to send their kids there instead of to the Namibian schools because the scholastic results are better with schools, classrooms of orphans, than in fact the regular schools themselves. So it just shows you that good things can be done with determination and contributions from outside forces like B2Gold.

2:54:20 This one, I just put this up for fun. You have to sort of look twice to say that we are a gold miner. We're also farmers. And this project in Namibia at the mine site is one of the most spectacular things we've ever done. We are now the largest private sector maize producer in Namibia. We've got aquifers, we acquired the technology with the pivots, and we've got a 90 hectare area double cropped so we've got cropping all year round and we are hiring up to about 30 people locally to to produce maize corn and in this has been very very successful visited by the Minister of Agriculture of Namibia.

2:55:08 The President of Namibia wants to come and see it. And again, it's something that makes us very proud. This will be part of our legacy when the mine does shut down 1 day. This will be given to the communities to run and operate without any interference from B2GOLD. Biodiversity, we touched a bit on that, but we're just giving you here a few examples of some of our projects that we're involved with, supporting West African chimpanzees, which are being affected in our area of the mine, not by our operations, but by illegal mining, which is very disruptive to their habitat. So in this case, we built a whole series of tunnels, about 6 foot by 4 foot, underneath the haul roads where the trucks go by, so they aren't forced to go on the road, they go underneath. And we've got photos of lots of them now using this access to get away from the informal mining and the disruption.

2:56:12 The Masbadi Gold Project, those are reef balls, We're restoring a reef. We got like almost 4,000 of these reef balls planted with propagates and then they in turn attract fish back and fish life. It's very, very successful. The reef was damaged by dynamite fishing, not by our operations. Ojikoto Mine, I may have mentioned that already, the nature reserve, 15,000 hectares of wildlife. We don't have predators, so the wildlife do very well. They're in a safe environment, and that will be given back to the community again when we get to the end of life of mine. We've had 4,000 school children from Namibia have visited this wildlife facility because many of them cannot afford to take the bus to go see a nature reserve like Atosha and they can't afford the entrance fee.

2:57:11 So they don't even know the wildlife in their country so We bring them up with their teachers. We introduce them to physics, a bit of engineering, give them a mind tour. They sleep out at the education camp, and they have a wonderful time. Goose mind, again, that's just highlighting the work with caribou. Caribou is essential to the life and lifestyle of the Inuit, and we do respect the caribou, and it is intrinsic to the cultural values and the work of the Inuit. As a result, when we have huge caribou migrations, like you might see in Africa with the wildebeest in Kenya or Tanzania, we get thousands and thousands of caribou migrating across our property, going up to calving grounds along the Arctic Ocean.

2:58:08 Everything stops. We cannot operate on the roads, we cannot operate the ice road. We wait. We wait as long as they're there. Only when they have gone through can we start up again. That's part of our agreement with the Kitikumit authorities. Almost done. I don't want to keep people away from their lunch. I just threw this in on the conservation theme. So the Rhino Gold Bar has become quite famous. We took 1,000 ounces of gold from Ojikoto from a mine. We gave it to the Cape Refinery in Cape Town. They produced 1,000 of those gold bars that you see on the right. They're all sold out. They were they were marketed on Kitco and they were sold out within a few weeks.

2:58:56 And it was very, very successful. All the funds raised were taken over by a trustee ship between B2 Gold and the Save the Rhino Trust and the Rhino Rangers. We manage the funds, which are several million dollars, and the funds are used now to help those folks, the trackers, who protect, track, monitor the black rhino herds. These are again northwest Namibia, not quite at the border with Angola, but in that area. That's the last free roaming black rhino herd in the world. So we provide these guys with their satellites, phones, everything they need to monitor the herd, and we also are undertaking community projects because if we can improve the quality of life of people in the communities around the herd, we believe they'll be less vulnerable to pressures from poachers who come in offering huge sums of money for them to identify where the rhinos are.

3:00:04 Sadly this is an industry in Namibia that is driven by Asian investors and Asian money, and what it does is create great pressure on rhino populations, I mean across Africa, but we feel it for sure in Namibia. So this program, again, 1 that we're very proud of and has been very successful. I think I'm pretty much done as Gareth gives me the look. Last slide. This is just on solar. We were one of the most innovative mining companies in Africa in terms of solar generation. So globally right now we have about 30% of our power is solar, and you can see the numbers there in Mali, 30%.

3:00:51 Mesbate, we're now doing 2 expansions of our solar in the Philippines, which is a hugely irradiated country. In fact, Namibia, Mali, and the Philippines are among the most irradiated countries by natural light in the world. So solar is something that's very obvious. Ojikodo, Goose Mine, it'll be wind. And we are now in negotiations with some equipment providers for a 55 megawatt wind facility. Huge wind turbines which will be part of a wind project and believe it or not, solar. We're inducing solar panels because again in the north you might have 8 months of winter, but you have 4 months of intense sunlight.

3:01:40 And basically, there's no darkness from June, July, August, May. So we're going to have a solar capacity as well. And that will give us both solar and wind in northern Canada. So thank you very much and enjoy your lunch. Thank you very much, Neil. And specifically, the lessons learned from Mali and from Namibia to the incredible benefit of Canada and the community. A special welcome, if I may. A few people have joined us in the room. Fawzia Sheikh, if I could ask you to rise from the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. I was very privileged to be with in South Africa a little earlier. Haji Adedayo Thomas, our host on day 2 in Lagos recently.

3:02:27 Welcome, such a pleasure to see you and to your delegation as well as the film industry. Lunch is served, please continue to network and we will see you back here in around 45 minutes. Thanks again. All right, good afternoon once again, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is 1.45 exactly here in Toronto. I know getting late, but so many still with us from across the continent. Great media coverage, Neil Reader, your presentation and the official media launch for our road to Bintuk in 2026. And I invite the panelists who are standing in the wings to join us momentarily for our panel, and joining us online from Montreal, Professor Yolande Chan, such a pleasure to have you with us on this panel, and Nii Ady, who's with us today as well from McGill University.

3:03:17 I'll just invite those at the back and Neil, Rita and others just to close the doors if you're going to go into a bilateral as opposed to staying within this room. And for those of you who are online as well and have any questions, take a look on your interactive features and you can certainly request to meet or connect with any of the delegates that are here with us in Toronto. I know some people actually are online, have been with us yesterday or are actually still en route to Canada. So we're looking forward to engaging with you, our members, but our guests as well. You know, catalyzing growth has become a key subject and the issue of digital solutions and sustainable ventures happens in this context with cross-border partnerships. And McGill University's SGI office of Sustainable Africa has been so key as part of the Mastercard Foundations and Carbon Initiative or collaborative, which heavily features Ghana, your Excellency, a country that keeps coming up in a key market.

3:04:13 So I'd like to invite our panellists to joining us today to kindly enter the room for this discussion. And Sabah Karr, co-founder of Wealthy Works and chief innovation officer of Arima, please kindly join us. Perpetual Ninyende, thank you so much. I know I've had a chance to work with you. McGill MasterCard Foundation Scholar Program alumni and the co-founder of Feather Care Limited. A very, very big good afternoon. Alika Appen, Lead Accelerator at Miele Ventures. Thank you, it's great to meet you. And then Professor Chan joining us online. Welcome back, Such a privilege to see you. And I will take my seat as we continue the conversations today. A warm applause for our entrepreneurship and policy panel. Professor Chan, if I could give the first question to you by way of introduction to the session and the conversation today.

3:05:07 Your role at the Faculty of Management at McGill University is well respected. You are no stranger to the Canada Africa Chamber, and you've had a key role in terms of leading the academic research and discussion on innovation, on knowledge and how we apply that in the creation of new businesses, especially smaller companies. And so I just want to recognize that particular role that you've had in the industry, because certainly within academia, there's been that cross-sectoral collaboration. And I think the first question really goes to the role of the MasterCard Foundation. Many of you in this room, if not everyone, will be familiar with their work. But really, there's a strategy that's aiming, and I quote, to enable 30 million young Africans, particularly women, into the workforce by 2030. And this enablement has to align with the strategy and with key execution.

3:05:57 Professor Chan, in this context and through the work that you're leading at the moment, through partnerships that leverage digital tools, What are the sorts of important factors in the progress that you're seeing at the moment? And what do we keep need to do in terms of understanding in reaching this incredibly ambitious, but very noble and very achievable goal of 30 million. Thank you so much, Gareth. If you don't mind, before I actually respond directly to the question, I'd like to just make a few preliminary remarks because I must extend warm greetings from McGill Desautels, Faculty of Management in Montreal. And I have to thank you, I have to thank the Canada-Africa Chamber of Business for the invitation. And of course, I have to applaud and commend Mardi Gras Foundation and all of the partners for the inspiring and impactful work that is going on.

3:06:52 I wish I could be with you. I'm honoured to participate virtually and I'm honoured to be with my fellow panellists. I am thrilled to be on the panel with you. So let me let me get focused on your question and pardon my voice. I'm at the tail end of a cold. This conversation is very aligned with not just my priorities but the digital faculty of management priorities at McGill. So our focus is on innovation and entrepreneurship. It's on advancing sustainability and ethics and equity which we're talking about today, and managing disruption. We, CNI, personally see entrepreneurship and innovation as a mindset.

3:07:43 Yes, it is a set of practices, and yes, we teach entrepreneurship and we advocate learning through action but we believe in democratizing if I could use that word entrepreneurship. So recognizing that entrepreneurial potential and ideas come from very different backgrounds. And our role at the faculty is to create learning opportunities, to create connections and mentorship and partnerships that allow young Africans and others to to turn their potential into into new ventures and, you know, to move from ideas to action. Now you mentioned the MasterCard Foundation.

3:08:29 Our Partnership with the Foundation is a very important part of what we're able to do at McGill. We've been a partner of the MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program for over a decade, and McGill scholars from Ghana and other African countries are not just studying here, they're launching ventures here, they're conducting research, they're mentoring their peers, they're giving back to their communities. What can we do specifically at Desautels, to Miguel Desautels, to assist young Africans? I'll start by referring to the Dobson Center. Some of you in the audience are familiar with the Dobson Center for Entrepreneurship at Miguel. It's in the building I'm in right now.

3:09:15 It's on the ground floor And the MasterCard Foundation scholars access entrepreneurship programming through this centre, which is designed to help them and others develop and advance ventures with social and economic impact. So just to give you a sense of what the Dobson Center has achieved and what we are making available to our African youth, I'll say that new ventures at the Dobson Centre have already generated, believe it or not, 624 as of today, 624 active patents. So, you know, this significant innovation, They've raised, with the help of the Dobson Centre, more than $4.6 billion Canadian dollars in funding.

3:10:11 These numbers are significant and they speak to the McGill ecosystem that we are making available to our African youth to translate inspiration and ideas into real ventures with real economic and social impact. The role of the center is to move these ideas toward commercial readiness and to connect entrepreneurs, the youth to capital, to markets, to networks, to partners. The center also takes entrepreneurs, Takes Youth on International Tours. And we recently just took 24 new ventures to 9 cities on 3 continents. And we connected them with industry and government leaders and created pathways to international markets and international investment.

3:11:04 This is what we try to do. And it's a key part of how this faculty, the Miguel De Zotel Faculty of Management, and I as a leader, how we can work with the MasterCard Foundation, other partners to realize ambitious goals. I love the goal of enabling millions of young Africans to create new enterprises, so we're aligned. And as long as there's funding for the Dobson Centre work, The centre staff can assist and will assist and continue to assist young Africans wherever they are, wherever they are in the globe. And I will say too that it's not just the staff. Every year hundreds, and I mean hundreds of McGill faculty, students and alumni volunteer their time and expertise at the center to engage with and help youth.

3:11:54 So it's a significant answer, but it's not our only answer. You mentioned the Sustainable Growth Initiative or SGI, Office of Sustainable Africa, and of course the KABAM Collaborative. What you may not know is that at McGill Desautels, through the Office of Sustainable Africa, led by Dr. Nyadi, as you mentioned, we have research to action projects. And these projects connect, yes, McGill expertise, but even beyond McGill, expertise in Canada and with our partners to African institutions, to African students, to African researchers. So our research to action projects are engaging Canada with Africa.

3:12:43 And I have to give a shout out, a word of commendation to Dr. Niyadi, who is incredible, who is completely dedicated to Africa and African diaspora, who I find so inspiring. I will say that the office he leads, which focuses on sustainability, and that was part of your question, it actually focuses on 4 elements of sustainability. So yes, economic, which is what we are about primarily when we talk about commerce, but also human elements of sustainability, social elements of sustainability, and environmental elements. And, you know, it looks at the interconnections of these elements. A lot of the new businesses and the new ventures that we see being birthed are doing real, real just they're making such impacts on the environment, on their communities, and on the population.

3:13:37 So let's not underestimate the range of impacts that are realized with entrepreneurship. If you don't mind, I'm just going to give you a couple of examples. One of them is fantastic. It's led by my colleague at McGill, Professor Catherine Tien. Now, she's an expert in FinTech, technological innovation and finance. So the project that she is leading, it examines access to FinTech solutions and payment systems and financial literacy. So she's begun the project in Ghana, but it's already linked to Nigeria and to South Africa and again she's bringing together McGill expertise, African student researchers and partners including partners at Ashesi University And it's just an example of the kinds of partnerships we're building where, you know, universities bring together researchers, students, digital tools, local expertise to address very practical challenges facing entrepreneurs and other business persons. Business persons.

3:14:46 If you will bear with me, let me just give you another example. And this was seen recently at Dezotel when we hosted the the Enkobom Africa Case competition just this past spring. Student teams from Ghana and universities all around the world were working on a real challenge facing Ghana. And the challenge was how to break silos across the agri-food, health and education sectors to improve nutritional outcomes. What was for me particularly powerful was the combination of experiential learning and also combining that with the collaboration and the partnerships, and students were working on a real problem, engaging with perspectives from different sectors and countries, and developing solutions that can continue to be explored through the Kaban Collaborative, which for me is very much what the spirit of the Young Africa Works strategy is all about.

3:15:52 It's creating pathways for people, especially young women, to develop the skills and the networks and the confidence and the opportunities to turn potential into meaningful economic and other activity and to really generate employment. I could keep going. I'd better stop. I haven't even started to go deep on technology, but maybe if you send me and give me another question, or the other panelists speak, there's a lot to say, so I'll stop there. Thank you very much, Professor. I think I'll turn to the business side, and perhaps Sabah, if I could begin, just offering you, as Professor Chan rightly did, an opportunity to provide some context to the work you're doing but very keen to understand you've hit the ground running building a business how have you found the intersection of what you're building with academia and leveraging information into actually creating real enterprises and jobs?

3:16:53 So, I come at this as a creative lead. I've led hundreds of creative teams on hundreds of brands and I've spent 90% of my career as an entrepreneur. So my lens is very influenced by what I think creativity and entrepreneurship does. So if we accept the fact that we live in a more complex world than our parents and their parents. Problems are not going to be solved necessarily in a linear way. So creativity becomes one of the essential ingredients. And I'll go as far as to say, if you think about protecting your children's futures, I said to my kids, you can be anything you want, but you have to be creative alongside it because nothing that you're going to do is going to move forward in a linear way.

3:17:41 Universities are the ultimate multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary environment. There is a combination of everything in a university. And I think one of the great things about universities or an opportunity is maybe kids don't just do 1 degree. Maybe it's always a combination between a major and a minor. I did a major in marketing and a minor in entrepreneurship, and I think they were both equally valuable. And so you can think about ways for children or young people to engage in the universe in a different way. And that might cause the universities to have to adjust their model a bit, but like everyone else, they too need to innovate. And they're facing these larger issues about mistrust in public institutions or anti-intellectualism.

3:18:31 And, you know, if a kid says, well, I want to be an influencer, that's not entrepreneurship, and that's not a career I would recommend, ladder them up through entrepreneurial thinking. So can we create these layers in a university? I think we can, and I am in discussions with some universities about that. So that's one key piece. The second thing I'll say about universities is how they have ease of engaging with the business community. So through Dean Chan and Prof Adi, I did meet some of the McGill MasterCard scholars. And as I figure out my first pilot, those students are the first ones that I think about of who we would bring on our team, whether it's in an internship capacity or as people who are actually hired because they've worked in both worlds and they've understood the context that we would come from as a Canadian business, but figuring out our first pilot in Ghana or in South Africa, these are the people I would look to first.

3:19:30 So once again, that comes from the university environment. And it's not to say that universities have to be as entrepreneurial or as risk-oriented as others, but already, you know, Dr. Chen did say how many patents have been generated by the university. So you see the innovation in some measurable way as patents already being produced in the university environment. Brilliant. And it's amazing how many of those patents have been developed into businesses. And I think I'd be fascinated perhaps when we come back to Dean Chan, just an estimate of how many of the technologies we see actually were originally patented in academia, so to speak, first and foremost. Perpetual, I first had the privilege of getting to know you as a scholar with the MasterCard Foundation. You're now an alumni, you're a founder. Could you talk a bit about that journey? Because I think it does reflect that intersection we're discussing today.

3:20:20 OK, thank you very much, Garrett. OK, so I am a founder of FederiCare. I have 2 other co-founders, And we started this way back during my undergraduate level from the University of Ghana. So coming from an agriculture background where I grew up to see most of my family into poultry and animal farming, I developed the interest from there and within agricultural engineering too, I've got the skills, like the academic skills and decided to merge these 2 skills to come up with something. And that was when I got to meet my co-founders and we decided to create an AI system that farmers, like poultry farmers in particular, will leverage on to help reduce some of the losses they go through. Because growing up and Even being a farmer myself, I realize some of the challenges farmers face when it comes to high mortality rates, especially during the brooding period when you are a young farmer and you have little knowledge.

3:21:30 And also, when it comes to disease detection, getting access to the right, we have a lot of sectors in the poultry ecosystem. So like veterinary, getting access to like the veterinary team, like vaccination, so these ecosystems. So we decided to come up with a system using the knowledge we acquired from the university level to create a system that will help solve the challenge I faced and the challenge that many other young farmers and even people with experience. And people already have experience, but they still face these challenges. Lack of being able to track data, because we realize that most farmers, they act on guessworks.

3:22:15 They don't really have the data to back whatever decisions they make. So these were all part of the reasons why we decided to come up with FederiCare, use the AI that we have been taught in school with agricultural engineering also to create a solution that will help them increase their production. But this wouldn't have been possible without also getting an entrepreneur knowledge, because as we all know, to be able to run a successful business, you need this knowledge, because you will just like we getting just technical people on board is not going to take us anywhere. So fortunately for us during our final year period, that is University of Ghana, That is where we got a chance to enter the University of Ghana Business Hub training. So we had our foundational knowledge from there.

3:23:08 And then I got a chance to come to McGill University, where I joined the Dobson camp. And then ultimately, that helped immensely. Like, we were being given access to mentors and coaches. We were being taught the basis to be able to run a good business. And on top of it, all we want. So we were giving funds to help scale startups. So this is something that I think if we really want as young people, if we want to run successful businesses, it's not just about the knowledge. It's not just about the technical knowledge, it's also about the entrepreneurial knowledge. So if the institutions, like the academic institutions, will try and kind of integrate this into their curriculum, as Sabah rightly said, because I only got a chance to get entrepreneurial knowledge when I go to final year. And that was even the second semester I would have left before they even announcing it. And that means I would have lost that opportunity.

3:24:18 But if we start from scratch and maybe when you go to first year there is a kind of a program which kind of gives you the basis, the general knowledge you should know like how to develop a business plan, what it means to do market analysis, come up with a product, something like that I believe will be helpful as we young people scale to kind of come up with great businesses that will help solve the world's problem. Fantastic, congratulations. Alika, you're a lead at Major Accelerator and quite directly Canada's premier AI venture building ecosystem Accelerator. And could you share just a little bit more about that work? I mean, Quebec is a gateway in many respects in serving driving the Canada-Africa agenda in terms of the role of accelerators.

3:25:11 And we'll be in Montreal next year for our Canada-Africa forum. But yeah, I'd love for you to just share what that's looking like at the moment. So for those who don't know Mila, Mila is an AI research institute that was founded in 1993 by Professor Yoshua Bengio, who's known as being the godfather of AI, which means like he contributed a lot to the research that gave birth to the open AI of today and Entropic. And we do receive students coming from all around the world that comes to do their master, their PhD, postdoc. And the role is to bring around the same table people from different backgrounds, expertise, to contribute to these AIs. Because what's happening right now is there's the United States and China right now who are kind of having that power of deciding how these machines are going to behave and then what are the result and the information we'll have access to.

3:26:09 So for me, it's really important. Every year, there's a delegation going to Endaba, Deep Endaba, which is the leading AI conference in Africa, and to recruit researchers and giving them scholarships also, because it is pricey to come in. So we have students coming from Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya. They're developing different applications. So giving you concrete examples, there's Chris, who is building Land Africa, who's building the data set to train those models based on African dialects. So he's doing all of the research of working with archives and highlighting, he's starting with 10 languages. So Yoruba, Ussa, Chi, Swahili to train those models. And then it's going to be, models are going to behave in a more like cultural and be able to better solve some issues on the African continent. And then on the other side, we have Israel who's from Ethiopia. He came to do his master and then he built Chapa, which is a leading AI fintech startup in Ethiopia.

3:27:19 They transited in more than $300 million USD of transactions. So that's like what Mila is doing is like we are an incubator where people can come, have their expertise, and then Mila Ventures, we're the venture arm. So our goal is to give them the resources, so access to capital, access to all of the infrastructure, mentorships to be able to scale their businesses. Fantastic, it's amazing. Dean Chan, if I could return to you and with a view to everyone in the room here on our next steps, because there is so much that's being done and we want to draw those connections very concretely. How do you see leaders in the room at a chamber of business with the majority of individuals in the private sector aligning on the development of these digital tools that you've described, the adoption, with the view to accelerating the creation of more businesses here in Canada and across the continent, and specifically those who are operating both in North America and across Africa.

3:28:16 Thank you so much, Gareth. And just before I forget to tell you, I used AI to quickly ask what is the status of our patents at McGill and what percentage are involving new technologies. And it informed me that the vast majority actually do involve, as we would expect, novel technical applications and tools. Now it did say, and I'm just going to give you some some numbers before I answer your question, that McGill, this is not just the Dobson Center. We have a number of incubators at the university. The Dobson is the one that is located within Dizital, within the management faculty, but there are incubators in our health sciences area, there are incubators in engineering, there are incubators in multiple parts of the university.

3:29:14 And it's saying at any given time about 300 or more, sometimes as many as 600 active patents or applications are underway. So we want to engage the continent with the engine, the ecosystem that we have at the university, and you can see that there's much to offer. Let me focus on technology. I was delighted to hear the last panelist speak about what we're doing at Miele, what is happening, which is so exciting, and that is looking primarily at the development of the technology, just as I discussed a moment ago, you know, technologies that can lead to patents and and so on. I actually am, and you may not know this, I'm a professor of information technology at DeSotel, So I'm Dean, yes, but I'm a professor and my area is researching technology strategy and business strategy. It's actually historically been called alignment, technology business alignment.

3:30:15 What I will say is that I'm all about changing mindsets. A lot of us see technology, so digital technology tools and infrastructure, sort of like we view pipes. Like it's a necessity, but it's not exciting. I'd like to really challenge that, especially for youth. I think that technology can transform what we're doing in an organization or a community or a nation. It can be disruptive. And that's where I get excited when we look at the fact that if you combine technology with a great idea, you know, what you can do is beyond description. Digital technology, in my view, for youth shouldn't be an afterthought. It shouldn't be what you think about after you've finished generating your idea and you're trying to just now implement.

3:31:09 It should be a core. It should be a core component of your strategic thinking. And for me, it allows for equalizing opportunities because a lot of technology is cheap. Yeah, developing it may not be cheap, but using it can be very cheap. And if we change our mindsets to not say sort of, you know, how do I use technology to execute my strategy, but what opportunities does technology give my business, give me to make possible what I consider currently impossible, you know. Let me think out of the box and what can technology do? That's where my work is focused.

3:31:55 And what I actually focus on because I work with entrepreneurs is looking at light technologies. So these are very inexpensive digital tools. These are the things we ignore. No, we spend so much time thinking about how to purchase sort of advanced technology systems, but that's not where I'm at. I'm at using everyday technology creatively for incredible business gain. I call it, you know, seeing the jewels on the ground and creatively using those jewels to win. So a lot of my work has focused on just technologies like, I call it SMAC, SMAC, social media, mobile, analytics, and cloud computing.

3:32:44 And that's just, like that's so accessible and available to most people around the world. You don't have to be a millionaire to, you can be in a poor area and have access to these tools. Social media, If you think creatively, social media isn't just about saying hi and counting friends. It can be sensing what's going on in your market, using it to understand your customers, actually discreetly monitoring your competitors and the analytics. Yes, AI is of course the best example of an analytical tool, but it's identifying trends, it's testing your assumptions, it's identifying market gaps. So a lot of what we can do in Africa, what we can do in Canada, what we can do in Montreal, is about using these almost free or low-cost technologies, mobile technologies, cell phones, they've transformed business in so many parts of the world. You know, you can connect, You can text your customers, your suppliers, distributors, employers, partners.

3:33:51 It overcomes geographic distances and it's not sophisticated and it's very, very accessible. Cloud technologies, the C in Smack, you know, social media, analytics, mobile, cloud. They allow a new venture to access computing just to the extent it needs to access collaborative tools, data, services in the cloud without having to make any large upfront investments in infrastructure. So it's real-time investments that are shaped by the needs of the business as it grows, or even time shrinks. But for me, if I just focus on AI, I think we are underestimating the impact of the use of the technology. So AI for me is smack on steroids.

3:34:52 It's for me not a question about whether a new venture would be adopting AI, but how. And most of us have used AI. I mean, free versions of chat, GPT are everywhere. So it's not that we can't experiment with, if we have access to the internet and to sort of basic foundational infrastructure. It's a question of applying that talent, that creativity to imagine and to strategically use and deploy AI and other sort of generic technologies to improve your products, your services, how you identify customers, your business processes, the access you have to markets and so on.

3:35:46 It's about what the entrepreneur does with technology. Yes, we spend a lot of money developing new technologies and not every new business can invest in that, but every new business can use technology in a creative way as a very accessible competitive weapon. And that's really what I'm about. And so you asked me, what can leaders do? Well, leaders can help entrepreneurs access these very underutilized digital tools. They can help them develop the skills to use them with confidence and very effectively. Leaders can also connect entrepreneurs to ecosystems like the one I'm part of at universities with accelerators, but also other ecosystems.

3:36:37 You know, you heard about Mila, you heard about their other businesses, their investors, their mentors, their governments, to provide them with the expertise they need, the networks they need, so that they can take these jewels, these inexpensive products, and make a lot out of them. In my view, entrepreneurship is really, it's like a set of interconnecting ecosystems. If you, an entrepreneur should see herself, himself, themselves as a part of a system of systems. They don't have to build all the capabilities. They just have to connect to the right, the right sources of technology, of expertise, training, etc.

3:37:25 And for me, that's particularly appropriate and relevant for Africa and the African diaspora. And I want to see more use of digital technologies to equip our entrepreneurs. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Dean. I mean, and just on that point, you know, in the context of the Canada-Africa relationship and the broader picture, we're looking at Obviously McGill University under your leadership, Dean, together with the MasterCard Foundation and others has really come to the fore. But the question perhaps I'll pose to you is if we're seeing a disconnect and what lessons we can apply perhaps broadly to the wealth of academic institutions in Canada. And that would be, Sabah, do you see generally a disconnect with all of the incredible possibilities that exist with information within universities and how universities are connecting with industry or possibly industry disconnected from how to engage with this incredible wealth of resources. And then I'll just have a follow up on that potentially.

3:38:21 But let's start with that. So I think every single university I know is always thinking about how to engage with business. And So all those experiments, some of them bear real fruit and I'll give one example. Over the last few years, McGill has run a program called McGill Personal Finance Essentials and it's a financial literacy program but they've pulled in RBC and the Globe and Mail. 200,000 people signed up for that. And as a FinTech entrepreneur, if I had an MVP that had 200,000 people sign up, that's a fantastic outcome. So there are all these experiments going on, that's just one example. The second thing that universities can do is, let's talk about return on investment on education.

3:39:07 Education has a role to play because 9 to 10% return on investment comes from education. So that's piece number 1. Piece number 2, Not everyone's going to become an entrepreneur, but as we hear from the incubators and the accelerators, there is an attempt to nurture those in those environments. And while not everyone will become an entrepreneur, many people will be educated in disciplines who work for vanguard industries. The third piece is everyone can become an investor and I've spoken to some people here today just talking about how do we get the diaspora to invest in Africa or in projects. There's 1 woman I met here who is doing due diligence of projects so that we can feel safe about our investment. But these are the paths that are all based on education as the core and the beginning point, but they're different lanes that everyone can follow to participate in the growth of that economy. If we all become investors, we invest and gain from growth long term.

3:40:06 And then just perhaps one of the base currents, I suppose, that's going through all of the discussion today in my read is a sense of strong optimism on AI and its potential and recognition of the extent to which it's been developed here in Canada, and of course, it's being adopted globally, and in turn, co-developed across the continent. How do you answer the concern that this is leading to a disruption that is a net disadvantage to a great majority with some of the arguments coming out around, you know, unemployment rising and things like that. Just for those who are wondering about that in the room who are not experts in AI, not specifically in the sector. So again, universities end up at the front lines. They're always thinking about, are we producing students who are going to be relevant in the market? And they're also addressing the fact that AI is causing this cognitive disline and this disruption.

3:40:57 So I think they're taking it head on in terms of they need to innovate too. The second thing is when we talk about cognitive decline, this old school way of learning has actually come back. And where is your best opportunity to gain that discipline and that rigor is in a university environment. So universities definitely have a role to play in dealing with mess. The last thing I'll say is, again, I'll talk about creativity. You need different people to come up with policies or responses. We can't have the same small group of people deciding everything. So someone who's studying philosophy might have a completely different take on how to build ethical AI policies that might be different from an entrepreneur, that might be different from someone in fine arts.

3:41:42 I think all this interdisciplinary problem solving layered with entrepreneurship, layered with AI means we'll get very different outcomes than what we're seeing today. We cannot accept the assumptions that have been made so far. Brilliant. Thanks very much. Perpetual, you were very kind in taking us through your entrepreneurial journey and some of the challenges. And I understand now in your role, you're not just looking at your own business, but helping other entrepreneurs. More broadly speaking, what are some of the challenges you're seeing? And in those challenges, what are policy considerations that could be systemic solutions in helping address some of these challenges that might be hindering the potential for even further accelerated growth? Okay, so some of the challenges that young people like myself normally face when adapting like digital solutions, for example, normally it's not about the availability because we know they exist. We have most of these digital solutions in existence, which, if we intend to adapt and use them in our businesses, is going to like scale and impacts like profits and then like our production.

3:43:00 But the issue now is the affordability. Most of these robust digital solutions that could impact our outcomes needs to be purchased. And young people, normally we run on grants. We run on some of these monies that we win from joining the bootcamps, the page competitions. So it becomes very difficult to decide to use some of these funds, to allocate some of these funds, to also pursue, like when it comes to digital solutions, to get the right, let's say, AI tool we need in scaling.

3:43:48 And also, deciding on whether to use some of these funds to pay our employees because we bring on board our colleagues also to help us with these businesses. So I think the major challenge has been like the affordability to these digital solutions. So to me, I will say we need a lot of like partnerships. We know the MasterCard Foundation has been doing well, especially when it comes to the lives of some people like myself, and also back in Africa, the Mastaka Foundation has been helping. But we need more partnerships. So in this room, we have investors, we have financial institutions, which I assume if they decide to come on board is going to enhance and then help us bridge some of these challenges.

3:44:45 Because at SGI, Office of Sustainable Africa, our main aim is to help youth secure a dignified and fulfilling job. And this cannot be possible without getting partnerships with some of these businesses in the room today. So we call upon you to help us because for us to even be able to run programs that will train the youth on entrepreneurial knowledge, to be able to also scale their businesses, we need the help and then the partnerships of the institutions here in this room and also globally. So that is something I want to mention like as a challenge when it comes. Yeah. No thanks very much and I think that is a challenge that's ongoing and that is so often accepted in this room and seeing what great companies are doing but that all comes about through initially convening and looking forward with an action-oriented approach. So that's really, really well taken and I wanted to actually stand on those remarks and then get to a question around your role again at the Accelerator.

3:45:49 You know, Alika, we've got 14,000 people on the Chamber database. We've got people in the room from among them. We've got 33,000 people who've signed up to the 6 platform doing the live broadcast today. What is your, what are some of the tangible steps that you think can be taken so that when we reconvene in Q1 in Montreal, we've already made great progress to furthering the objectives you have? That's a good question. First, I think the startup ecosystem is like, I will advise everyone to really understand their reality. Because when you're a startup, you're building something that is not on the market yet. You're kind of envisioning what in the future, in 10 years, you will need to adopt in your own.

3:46:35 So as a business, I'll encourage you, if you can, to work with these startups because like they're going to give you the tools that is going to give you even like more profits or like have access to bigger market. And then expecting these startups to go through the same due diligence process as like big corporation is not going to work. And especially at the startup, it's all about speed and growth like Samuel during the first panel mentioned. And if you want them to survive, they cannot go through months and months and even years of sales cycle. Like it has to be fast. And there's other ways of doing due diligence. I'm not saying to skip it, but then just like adapt to their reality. And that will be like a win-win situation for them because they're going to have the profit and the revenue to create employment. And then at the same time, you might discover new innovations that like you will never have before.

3:47:32 Brilliant. I wanted to get a broad insight from an entrepreneur's perspective from each one of you as you see fit on where you see a gap still on the commercialization. And obviously, you're seeing companies and you're seeing talent. We've got the law firms, Goodman specifically, here in the room today. So sometimes they address that. But how are you seeing that? And what do we need to do to help ensure that we have actual commercial businesses arising from most unbelievable technology being developed, oftentimes right here in Canada and on the continent. Perhaps I'll, if you'd like to go first, we'll work backwards. Thanks. It was interesting because in another panel, like for example, for Canada, we represent 0.5% of the world population, but we contribute to 10% of AI discoveries.

3:48:24 But at the end, we're just attracting 2% of capital. So there's a huge gap between how we contribute to the world advancement of research and then the money that we actually have to build those businesses and to bring on the market these products. And at Mila Ventures, what we're doing is that first we're putting up in place a Venture Scientist Fund of 100 million. So it's going to be invested in those startups and trying to put our money where our mouth is because right now the most promising entrepreneurs are going in the States because over there, investors are almost showing them money. Like I'm talking to a lot of MENA alumni that are telling me they have to say no to the money. Well, like in Canada, it's the opposite. Like they have to run after all of the investors. And at the end, a lot of them, they don't have a choice but to go in and in the States. So I would say like the access of capital needs to be like we think investor needs to be a lot more risk takers instead of risk averse. And then finally, I feel like one of the reason why the Americans are so good is they're not scared of failing. They are taking a lot of risk. And then like we say in finance, the biggest the risk, the biggest, the bigger the return. So I feel like it's going to take time.

3:49:37 But how they could cultural shift that will be like really helpful. Perpetual. Thank you. Okay, so I will come from the direction of mentorship and then coaching. Because I believe most of young people, we have the skills, like we are creative in certain ways and then willing to work. But if we try to bring up all these solutions and we don't get the right mentorship and then coaching, I believe it is going to be tough on our journey to success. Because without that hand holding, like that person to hold our hand and then keep on echoing into our ears that you can do it, like push harder, and then try to take that risk.

3:50:25 Most of my colleagues and even most young people tend to give up. So you realize that there was this startup that was in existence in less than 5 years. They kind of give up because they didn't get the right coaching and the mentorship. So I believe like in this room and globally, like most of our business leads, if you could come and then take this initiative, like help, be coaches, try to mentor some of us, it's going to help our entrepreneur journey. Thank you very much. So, if I think of a gap, right now, Canada is just hot as a partner of choice, collaborator of choice, middle powers, that whole thing.

3:51:11 But in every trade mission, it's one thing to have your gigantic companies there. I think you need to bring entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized startups along in every trade mission. And that'll do 2 things. We have to not think of the US as our market. So getting more entrepreneurs in other countries to say, oh, I could do something in the Nordic countries, I could do something in Africa, we should be joining all those trade missions. The other thing it'll do is we're going to broker different partnerships. And this is where for the long-term, the economic gain for the partners or the collaborators, these are the new networks that we need to build and we're going to end up in a very different world 5 or 10 years from now. That's where these start to pay off. So this two-way exchange on trade missions, I think, is an early and easy opportunity and people are open to collaborating with Canadians.

3:52:02 So more of that is always gonna be a good thing. Fantastic. So we'll see many of those small businesses in Namibia, for example, coming up in Ghana and elsewhere. And it's been great just to echo that, majority of companies to participate in the chamber trade missions have reflected that important demographic. And I think certainly well heard at the other trade missions as well. Dean Chan, just in closing, if you have any comments either on the commercialization gap or from your vantage point, the role and the work of the chamber going forward. I know we last had this conversation a year ago and much has happened in the world as well as at the chamber. But if I can offer final remarks to you, the floor is yours. Thank you so much and I'll be brief. Let me just speak to the role of the chamber. I think the Canada-Africa Chamber and its members could help, for instance, to connect even more so universities, businesses and industries here in Canada with African student talent and innovation pipelines.

3:53:01 I think we could link further African institutions and entrepreneurs with our Canadian knowledge hubs and our research networks like NILA. I think we could address shared global challenges, you know, facilitating joint research, experimentation that we both want to be involved in, and of course, collaboration. And, you know, with respect to the digital stuff that we've been discussing, I mean, clearly, industry partners can provide the support that Perpetual and others were requesting. And of course, the universities can provide the education and the training and contribute talent to, by the way, facilitating student exchanges and faculty visits and the foundations can increase access and build capacity and governments of course need to create an environment for innovation. So I'll stop there, Thank you. Thank you so much, Dean Chan.

3:54:02 Thank you for your leadership. Thank you to our panelists and a warm round of applause. That concludes our session. And everything of the best as you continue this critical work. Thank you again, perpetual. Congratulations. And one person who's been very humble, and we always have these discussions and he's never on the panel. So I'm gonna put him on the spot and call him up. And that's Dr. Nii Ady, who made possible the initial connections that have led to this relationship with McGill, but also to the MasterCard Foundation. And so, Nii, if you could just join me on stage quickly for a few words on one of the projects that you've just pioneered, which I thought really merits some discussion from the floor. And a big round of applause to Nii Adi joining us. Thank you for coming through today. Thank you very much to Gareth. It's wonderful.

3:54:51 The partnerships we've had with the chamber have been amazing, right? The 2 words that I want us to think about that came from the panel, jewels and gaps. I'm going to use these words, jewels and gaps, to talk about this project that we did. So this is a project that was funded by the MasterCard Foundation to compare entrepreneurs. How do entrepreneurs journeys, Young African entrepreneurs journeys, both in Canada and in Africa. So this was a study, it came from a study that was done, McGill University and Ashesi University, I have my colleague, Araba from Ashesi University, And also we have a University of Ghana here, but other Ghanaian universities. So we did this study. And part of what we tried to figure out is, well, consumption. How do people consume research?

3:55:42 Nobody reads those boring journals that we write. How do young people consume research? How do industry leaders consume research? So we came up with the idea of being, you know, a comic. So this comic came out of the study that the Masaakad Foundation funded. And we did it in collaboration with a company, Leti Arts. Leti Arts does comics. They also do video games, African video games, African-themed video games. It's a jewel. Comics are jewels, right? But there are also gaps. So my colleagues talked about the idea of how do we engage. We are looking for multiple partnerships with industry. 1 simple way that I'm going to put it out there that we want to do moving forward is figure out ways in which we can train entrepreneurs, not just in Canada, but in various African countries, right?

3:56:32 And creative ways of doing that by tapping into the jewels. There's a lot of knowledge out here. There's a lot of experience out here. We want to be able to engage you in applied research. So applied research like we did for this one, for this study, and creative ways of actually disseminating the research in ways that you will engage with. So you tell us how do you engage in the research? There's been talk about, you know, various ways that that is happening. Asgard gave me the mic. I'm going to use this opportunity to see, you know what, Anyone who's interested in engaging with us on projects like these, at McGill, the Sustainable Growth Initiative Office of Sustainable Africa, we have these research to action projects. They're new. We've just started. We need industry partners to engage with us. What are the problems you're facing? There's a lot of creative knowledge, a lot of creative energy by young people, students, who are potential employees of yours, potential partners of yours.

3:57:25 And if we take this one as an example, this comic, we are looking at how do we actually digitize some of these things and use this for training. At McGill, how can we develop training coming out of such research that will also be useful for industry? So the request to you all here is please talk to us. We have a whole bunch of colleagues here, students, alumni from McGill, but other MasterCard Foundation scholars and alumni over here, and other partners here. So we'd really like to hear from you as to what are the issues you're facing and how can we apply some of these things in these research to action projects, including simple jewels, where there are gaps to be filled, to digitize some of these things and actually use them as tools moving forward. So that's my appeal. I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone, to the panelists again, and a huge thank you to Gareth and the team at the chamber for your partnership. We appreciate it. Thank you.

3:58:20 Thank you. Thank you so much for all your support. We're gonna continue the conversations in this session now. And I'd like to invite up Amanda to the stage. Amanda Dlamini is someone who's involved in innovation, but specifically in the health sector. It's fantastic to have you up here with us. Feel free to choose a seat. And really, this is going to be an opportunity to engage with Amanda, followed by a discussion with Jen MacBruce, a director at MEDA, just to look at how we translate very practically the innovations into the tangible businesses that we're seeing here today. So Amanda, by way of an introduction, I just wanted to recognize the HINT Collaborative and the work that you're doing. Could you tell us a bit about what that looks like day to day and we'll get into some of the more practical points.

3:59:08 Sure. Afternoon, everybody. So the University of Toronto has partnered with 8 African institutions and we have formed the African Health Collaborative which is supported by the MasterCard Foundation. So our whole aim is to support health entrepreneurs across the continent with resources such as mentorship, helping with regulatory pathways, funding pathways, and just assisting in terms of co-developing the health ecosystem on the continent. And to date, I see you've incubated ventures in over 20 countries. What do you think are some of the differentials between, you know, the initial idea and actually incubation that leads to companies on the ground across Africa and of course back in Canada? Yeah, so I think what we've noticed is that Africa has a lot of innovation.

4:00:08 Many of the ventures are on the ground and they fully understand the challenges that they face in terms of the health ecosystem. So the innovation is ripe. And the difference with ventures that have piloted is they don't just stick with this amazing, innovative technology, but they actually understand the markets. They look at questions of who will buy this innovation that we are developing, who's going to adopt this innovation, and will it work in the current health ecosystem? So that has been the core differentiator between ventures that have come up with great ideas and are piloted and those that have piloted. And what we found is that working with our African partners has been very crucial in the success of the Africa Health Collaborative, because we didn't walk into this collaborative as we have the solution but we co-developed the solution, which involved creating and enabling environments for these startups to be able to get the right resources to help them develop their technologies.

4:01:21 Brilliant. And we were just hearing from McGill, but turning to Toronto, just really across the street from us, I see there've been over 1,500 venture investment backed companies that have come out of the university. Sort of what's the lay of the land as relates to health and what are the sort of opportunities or challenges that we should be considering to have more of these projects, both focused on the Canadian market in addition of course to serving customers across African markets? So the greatest barrier that we have noticed is that in many African institutions, particularly our partners, There's not a lot of accelerators within the university ecosystem. And the accelerators are so crucial as they provide resources from regulatory, mentorship with key opinion leaders that can actually help them on their pathways and also they provide small grants opportunities which are so crucial for that early stage startup. So I think that has been a big barrier And it's something that we are working alongside with our partners to co-develop accelerators.

4:02:36 We have successfully co-developed with Amref, with Ashesi University, so that has been really exciting. And we're looking at continuing to co-develop those accelerators with KNUST, ALU, University of Cape Town, Addis Ababa University and so on. Brilliant. And what are some of the exciting sort of themes within healthcare technology that you're seeing emerge? If you could pick, perhaps in your view, some of the most exciting from among all the success stories so far? So a huge trend that we've seen is a lot of the health startups are looking at mental health applications and creating those mental health applications for the African context.

4:03:25 So I'll take myself as a Zulu South African. I think it's easier to be able to share my issues with someone who understands my culture, speaks my language. So that has been interesting to see and see the development of how they merge the emerging AI apps which are translating into different indigenous languages. And then another huge trend is that we are finding a lot of clinicians, cause we also have another pillar, which is health ecosystem and health employment. A lot of clinicians tend to go for the big NGOs to work for and to innovate within those NGOs.

4:04:13 So now there's a greater interest in doing fellowships in small startups and seeing how they can help in the innovation space within those startups. So that has been a growing trend and a rather successful one. We currently launched a fellowship program where we are placing the MasterCard Scholars within UFT into the health ventures that we have onboarded successfully. And to date, we've onboarded about 7 MasterCard Scholars on a six-month paid fellowship program. Amanda Dlamini, thank you so much. Congratulations on the amazing achievements. And we look forward to continuing the discussions and, of course, more success stories to come. Thank you so much, Garret.

4:04:58 Thank you, everyone. Brilliant. Thank you. Well, Jen MacBruce is with us. And for those of you who don't know MEDA, MEDA has been around for over 6 decades. Those who are in Lagos certainly will recognize this organization, business-led but focused on making real and significant impact. So Jen, thank you so much for joining us. It's such a pleasure to see you again. And our conversation, I think, is going to be focusing on some of the work that you're doing specifically on the ground across the continent. We heard a lot about Nigeria and Lagos recently, but of course there are a number of other initiatives. Just to sketch context for this discussion very quickly, could you just run through what exactly Mida has been doing for the last 60 years? Because I'd like to get into what's changed for this current moment we're in now?

4:05:49 Yeah, I'm happy to. So I think I like to contextualize what META has been doing over the past 60 years. META started out as a development organization. It was started, META is the Mennonites Economic Development Associates, So it was started by the Mennonites, who really believe in entrepreneurship, right? So business solution to elevating poverty. And that's how MEDA started, and then went into development finance. And I remember when I joined MEDA 2 years ago, I had spent 12 years at Moneylife. And somebody asked me, why would you leave the capital market and join MEDA? And I contextualized that to say that MEDA has shifted from just being a development organization to being a development organization which is who is actually combining investments with development finance. And that's a critical shift and it's a critical piece of what we've been talking about because development finance doesn't leave sustainability in the long term. So by Mida combining development finance with investments, it's demonstrating that we are in to make sure that we have the development outcomes and the impact, but more importantly, that we're leaving sustainable businesses in the longer term. So that's NIDA in a nutshell over the last almost 75 years.

4:07:10 Brilliant. And when you look at blended finance and the various perceptions associated with it, do you think, where do you think there have been some disappointments? And where do you think there have been some disappointments and where do you think there have been the successes? Because I think it's one of those terms that can mean a lot of different things to different people. What's the best way to view it? Yeah, so I think Maybe I've mentioned this before when we were here. I can't remember if it was in March or April. But I think my struggle with blended finance is that it doesn't really highlight and showcase what exactly we're trying to solve. I know that the term is used as an innovative structure to combine equity and debt investment with technical assistance. But I think more critically, over time, we've been able to show through the MasterCard Africa Gold Fund that it doesn't really work.

4:08:01 What you need to do is really to understand what the SME is looking for, what structure the SME is looking for, and structure. So you can't get into an investment with a preconceived idea of a structure. So for example, many people assume that SMEs are looking for equity. But that hasn't been our experience in the last little while. We recognize that they want a combination of equity and debt. So revenue sharing becomes a better structure. But you don't see that in blended finance solutions. And also, blended finance just assumes a one-size-fits-all. But it doesn't work that way.

4:08:48 More especially when you're looking at micro SMEs and SMEs, the ticket size matters. And the ticket size actually would determine what type of investment structure. So I think the word we're probably looking for is innovative financing that strengthens the micro SMEs to be able to scale over a long-term period. And so I like to, I'm not from the industry of development finance, so I like to deviate away from using the terminology blended finance. That you bring in technical assistance, by all means, You do need that. You do need the technical assistance. You need business development support to support the infrastructure in which these SMEs have to grow in. Because in many cases, the infrastructure doesn't exist for them to be able to thrive and grow. Something as simple as working capital doesn't exist.

4:09:39 So rather than creating a technical assistance program that answers everything but doesn't answer anything really, is creating structures like working capital to give them the opportunity to scale and grow over time. And when you look at the work you're doing in African markets on the ground, how are you seeing some of your approach deviate from what perhaps some of the other traditional Canadian investors are doing? And do you attribute to attribute it some of that gap? Is that part of the reason for your success? I mean, 6 decades is a good run. 7, actually. 7 decades. I beg your pardon. Yeah, we're 2 years into celebrating the 75.

4:10:24 So, yeah, so I think what's made us successful is that we've been able to bring programming initiatives alongside our investments. So not just in Africa, I like to use the one we did in Paraguay where Mida Invested was the first investor in a Paraguayan company called Cardipsa. And what Mida did was we brought in debt. That was the first investment that we did. But alongside debt, we brought in our programming. And so we developed the Cassava infrastructure in Paraguay, where the investment was done. There are schools around it. There are hospitals around it. We brought in other development partners and created a thriving business environment to move from small-scale farming into a business that is thriving today.

4:11:13 Mida invested a total of about $500,000, exited at $1.9 million. And I say this to sort of say that that's the same approach we are bringing into Africa as we move into those markets now, is to actually bring our programming, what we call a program plus approach, develop the infrastructure that is needed for a company to thrive. So we are blending working capital facilities alongside with more catalytic capital. I think one thing we are doing very well, and we are refining as we go, is to take on first loss. The other thing that we are doing is that we're extending the term of our investments. So whilst many investments are looking for 5 to 7 year terms, we can stay in for 10 years.

4:12:04 So that actually is very innovative because it gives the company, the SME, the ability to scale over time. And as they scale, we are bringing in, we are injecting working capital, which is what we did with Codipsa, by the way. We brought in different types of investments. There was repayment of those investments. We reinvested it. And sometimes what we would do is we go in with our expertise as well. And we convert some of those debts into equity, which is really critical for the companies. Because sometimes they just cannot meet their cash flow needs to be able to repay their working capital. But we have the flexibility to convert that into equity over time and then exit that way. So I think that's what's been different with the different types of investments that we've made over time. We've been very innovative.

4:12:55 We are learning as we go. We've not always got it right. We've made some you know, we've made some bets that we shouldn't have, but I think overall when I think about the investments that we've done, that we've been very catalytic and I think that our programming approach to investment has helped as well. Brilliant and I do remember the conversation that was made with the African Development Bank, the President and the leadership were here, various members, governments. And during those roundtables, you made some points along the lines of what you've mentioned now. But I wanted to just touch on this broader macro environment, because every investment, every economic decision is influenced by law and policy and regulation. What are some of the things that you think are just cautionary for Canadian policymakers or for those across the continent that, you know, is the difference between unlocking major opportunity and perhaps being a bit of a hindrance that stops you going in and putting in that 500,000 that grows significantly when it goes well? Well as you know currency is the first thing I'm going to talk about.

4:14:00 It goes without saying that you have to invest in the local currency. So first, there isn't a hedging strategy that fits very well with investing in foreign currency. So the first caution is invest in the local currency. You put less stress on the investee company, and then there's emphasis on growth. So they don't have to manage the currency fluctuations. I mean, across the continent, currency becomes even more critical in West Africa, more so than in East Africa. But East Africa has seen their fair share of challenge with the shilling in Kenya and Uganda as well. So I think currency becomes the very first thing. I think the second thing is ensure that the company is domiciled in the country that you're working with. And I think I spoke about this with the AFDB meeting as well.

4:15:01 Local domiciliation means that you're using local accountants, local lawyers, local service providers to ensure that they understand. If you allow the company to domicile in Delaware, you're forcing them to understand the laws of Delaware, as opposed to understanding the laws of Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya. And that creates an extra stress. It's also expensive. So one of the studies that we did in recent times is cost per job creation. And you recognize that when you domicile in the local country, the cost per job creation is lower, because you're using local services. So it's very difficult for you to understand the tax laws in Delaware if you don't live there. And then you have to, outside of getting a CPA in your country, you have to create a CPA.

4:15:54 I think the other thing that everyone forgets is that once you use the local services, you're creating jobs in the local environment as well. So I think it's really critical for that local partnership to happen. I think the government relationship is also really critical, because your agenda is not the same as the government's agenda. So that partnership and liaising with government relations to understand what their agenda is, is really critical because they have a budget and their budget might not necessarily fit into your development agenda as well. So I think it's really critical to understand what that relationship is like. I think the last thing I will say is the banking relationships as well. So banking relationships in Africa is very different from banking relationships in North America. The capital markets are developed very differently, regional banking is done very differently, and so when you're taking in foreign investments it's really important and critical to understand the central banking policy because we do have investments in places where you can't retrieve your investment.

4:17:02 Ethiopia is one example, Malawi is another example. So you need to understand the banking relationship and the jurisdiction that you're working with. And you need to understand what bilateral relationships they have with Canada, for instance. Brilliant. And just in closing, Jen, coming back to Canada, you've been party to important discussions, most recently yesterday's round table on the ministerial aspects of the Africa strategy. When you look at that strategy and you look at your work now at MEDA, 75 years in, but what you're looking to achieve in the future, what are some of those points around the Africa strategy and the Team Canada approach that you're most excited by, by virtue of getting behind it, in some cases already doing things that are articulated by way of deeper engagement?

4:17:49 I think for me, it's the commercial lens and bringing commercial partners alongside development work that we are doing. So I wear a different hat. I sit on the board of a trade finance organization called Westbridge. Westbridge is partnering with local onion producers in Mauritania, in Togo. I think they're doing some work in Ghana, but it's on a much lower scale. And they are supplying onions into the Canadian supermarkets. And I use this as an example of a critical piece, because whilst you're doing the development work and trying to strengthen the smallholder farmers, you're creating a readily available market in Canada for them. So that's what excites me about the new Canada Africa strategy is pairing development work, going in to develop the smallholder farmers, making sure that they have a readily available market.

4:18:45 We've done a couple of projects, the rice project in Nigeria, where we are sort of developing the ecosystem in maize, soya bean, granite. And the question I ask a lot of development agents is, what happens after the program is done? You've left all fund assets with no commercial viability if there's no readily available market, commercial market. Canada needs, I mean, of course we're getting into the winter, so we all know we can grow granites here. So Canada is a readily available market, but how do they partner with their local partners? What's that trade nexus? And how do they make sure, because of course we have to meet FDA requirements, so how do we get to that point where the requirements are met so that local producers have readily available markets in Canada? And I think that's what excites me about Canada.

4:19:40 We are getting the GACs and that's exciting with GAC because MEDA has implemented a number of GAC projects in Africa, in the Philippines, and Latin America. And once the project is done, we write a nice report. We talk about it. But I dare ask the question that if we should go back 10 years, how many of those jobs are sustainable over time? How many of them are seeing sustainability, commercial viability, if there's no readily available market for them. So I think that the partnership with the GAC of the Canada Africa, bringing in commercial partners at the beginning of the project, I think it's really critical. And that's where Mida has been focused in the last little while. I mean, you know, we run the Mida Risk Capital Fund that invests globally. We run, we are the fund managers for the Mastercard Africa Gold Fund as well. So we've been partnering, we've been doing this work, but seeing that Global Affairs Canada, the government of Canada is coming alongside with us, AFDB is coming alongside with us, I think it's exciting for work we've been doing in the last little while.

4:20:45 Absolutely fantastic. Thank you for everything you've been doing, Jen, and for your leadership. Jen MacBruce of MEDA, closing off this particular conversation. Fantastic. And as we prepare for our final stretch, we'll take a 10 to 12 minute break now, And then we'll be going into a few reflections on innovation, our East Africa session, and we'll move into our closing and the way forward. It's been a fantastic day so far. Please do not leave just yet. There's still a few more key important points and some very special guests are joining us from the continent that I'll be introducing in around 15 minutes. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. I'm really pleased to be part of the conference, Africa Accelerating. My name is Sivan Yaari. I'm the founder and president of Innovation Africa.

4:21:32 It's an organization that for the past 2 decades have brought solar energy to remote villages in Africa. Today I'm going to show you what we have done across 10 African countries in over 1,400 villages in investing by bringing solar energy to bring electricity and to pump water in the most remote villages. But to start with your permission, I think we should watch a very short 2 minutes video. About 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. A desperate call in need of an urgent response. half of the continents have to leave their homes to access water. Access to safe water is one of the most fundamental pillars for human health. Africa is left behind and forgotten.

4:22:36 The main challenge in Africa is the lack of energy. Because there is no energy, people are still suffering. Because there is no electricity in medical centers, there is no electricity in schools, but most importantly, because there is no energy, there is no access to clean water. And yet, the sun exists, the water exists, and with only a few solar panels we can make a change. Innovation Africa is a non-profit organization. Since 2008, we have brought solar energy to power schools, medical centers, and most importantly to pump water in rural African villages.

4:23:26 Once we bring clean water to a village, everything changes. Children are going to school, now there is better education, less people are sick. But what inspires us the most is when we get back to a village, we see agriculture, brickmaking, we see economic independence. Energy is the key to break the cycle of poverty.

4:24:36 So Innovation Africa is a charity that has been working across 10 African countries. As I mentioned, over 1,400 villages now have access to clean water and to electricity. And what we're doing is quite simple. We're using the solar energy to pump the water. Currently, we're operating across 10 African countries, and we have over 100 employees, local Africans, and local contractors across the countries where we operate. We are mainly looking and working in villages where there is no access to clean water at all, which is not difficult to find because still today over 400 million people across Africa do not have access to clean water. So here you're looking at pictures of villages of at least 3,000 people more and more. So the smallest village we're going to is 3,000 people.

4:25:43 As I mentioned, 400 million people without access to clean water. And unfortunately, because of that, over 1,000 children are dying just because they are drinking dirty water. And so our job as a charity is quite simple. As you can see, we get to these villages where water does not exist, or the source of water is limited and dirty. And all we do is using the energy, because The challenge of the water is actually not the challenge. There is plenty of water just below their feet. What we don't have is the energy to pump it. And I'm sure that many of you here, investors across Africa and Africans, you know that the main challenge today at the continent is the lack of energy.

4:26:36 And so all we do, we're using solar water pumps to pump water. And here's very quickly, I'm going to show you how simple it is and how quick it is to change an entire village. The first step is the drilling and then the construction follows. Here you can see the final result and the cost of $85,000 is what it cost, a one-time cost, to change a village in providing the village with access to clean water of up to 10,000 people. So now let me take you through all the steps to do so and what we're using the $85,000 for.

4:27:23 The first step is the drilling. We drill up to 250 meters deep. The second step is the construction of a 10-meter tower. On top of the tower, we install only a few solar panels, just enough to capture the energy from the sun and to power the pump, to pump the water to a tank. From the tank, through gravity, water then flows to the different taps that we're installing throughout the village. Now the pipe, the network, can be 458 kilometers in order for us to reach everyone in the village. Now, the other 4 steps that I'm about to tell you about as as important as the construction, which has to do with how we keep the project going.

4:28:19 The sustainability of the project is important, especially when you get the community to be involved from the beginning. So the first step, We help the community to elect a water committee, then we sign an MOU that says the day on the project once it is completed. Then we take 10 people from the village, villagers from the village, 10 of them, and for 4 months, they are working with the contractor to learn how to maintain, to fix, and to operate the solar water pumping system. For 4 months, they are paid. And so by the end of the project, once we leave, we have at least 10 people that know how to operate it.

4:29:12 As I mentioned, we have over 100 employees. It is very important because they come from the tribes. They know the culture. They know the people. They speak the language. And I think this is really the strength of working in Africa. You need to hire people coming from the villages. And the last, but probably the most important part is the fact, the transparency, is allowing you, the donors, the companies that are doing CSR and giving us money to help villages to be able to track live and to see how much water we're pumping from each village. And I think this is maybe why we have been so successful. I'm going to show you very quickly.

4:30:03 If you go to the website, you can just click on any of the villages we have helped. You can see you paid for it when it was completed. You can see how much water we are pumping every day, the pictures before, after, but also you can see a satellite view of the village and even the solar panels. And I think this is why we're able to be so successful over the years. You can go to the website, you can select the village you would like to help, and of course most importantly, come with us. Be with us the day we're opening the tap of clean water for the first time. Now for business people like yourself, for investors, definitely providing access to clean water changes everything in the village.

4:30:56 Children are going to school, they are healthier, but most importantly, the economic development in the village. The village is becoming rich. So I think this is important to understand that if we really want to help and to empower the people in Africa, let's start with energy, then water, and then everything else comes afterward. Thank you very much for listening. I hope I'm going to be able to meet some of you. Here's my contact information, and I'm looking forward to be working together across Africa. Thank you very much. Greetings, I'm Frances Chitende and it's a pleasure to offer remarks today. Thank you to Canada Africa Chamber of Business for the invitation to speak at Africa Accelerating.

4:31:48 As a research fellow, my work focuses on exploring innovative health care methods, models and policy frameworks that can address pressing system challenges. Throughout this research, my objective is to look beyond traditional paradigms and examine how growth border insights specifically from the African continent can inform and strengthen universal healthcare systems like Canada. Today I am honoured to present key insights on how African healthcare innovation can enhance healthcare delivery here in Canada and specifically what insights we can take in driving new models for universal access.

4:32:49 To illustrate this, my research examines the case study of South Africa's private sector role and lessons for universality, with a focus on ensuring the benefit of world-class innovation, rich healthcare users. South Africa has one of the most developed private healthcare sectors in the world. Innovative companies such as NET Care, Life Health Care and MediClinic, together manage over 115 hospitals in South Africa alone, and well over 200 when counting their expansion into countries including their countries of Canada with universal access.

4:33:48 They have built a reputation for short time, modern infrastructure and international clinic excellence. For my case study, I offer 2 critical takeaways. My first takeaway is African business leader, private sector excellence can score. South Africa, private health operators demonstrate how high accounting, high thought out hospital management demonstrate how high-accounting, high-thought-out hospital management can scale into driving internationally competitive enterprises that serve the common good.

4:34:37 MediClinic, for example, now runs hospitals in Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, and Life Cares builds a diagnostics business across the United Kingdom and the Europe. This underscores the immense potential for African business leaders to drive health care, innovation, and commercial access to scale. My second takeaway is for our Canada policies marks. Or Canada policies marks. As Canada faces complaint about long waits, long waits time, emergency room grounding and surgical backlogs, The operational efficiency of large private hospital networks provides available blueprints for facilities, governance, and health management expertise that can enhance and support the public system so that care improves for everyone, not just those who can pay without compromising the core and the important Canada value of universal

4:36:08 access. African countries like South Africa, which are the home to the innovation used in this example, are working to enhance universality with active discussions on how to be mindful of enabling continued world-class innovation while at the same time extending world-class care for all. So far, it appears that private sector operational capacity can be a powerful asset, but it must be built on the top of generally universal public guarantee, not as a substitute for 1.

4:36:59 By leveraging private operation expertise while protecting universal access. Canada can modelize its health care delivery, creating meaningful opportunities for bilateral partners with African health tech and business leader in the process. I would welcome the chance to continue this conversation with anyone in the room working to build those partners. Thank you and have a nice rest of the conference. All right. Good afternoon. OK, I'm starting with Ethiopian proverbs. And we say, leshi filt masare olet.

4:37:48 I'm sure someone will tell me what it means. That's a really good idea. It's like for 1000 logs, it's 1 rope can get it bound. Canada and Africa have got like thousands of businesses, ideas. And you know, a lot of attempts year after year to connect, to do business. But it's just now we have to get to the transactions, the real deal, every day, 24 hours. Every day 24 hours So it's just that We have been traveling so many countries in the Middle East and Asia so Africa in Ethiopia like we are the second populous nation with 130 million and maybe the 60% of the population is yours and we have got like millions of SMEs and amazing agricultural products that can be exported easily through our Ethiopian airlines that's flying everywhere.

4:39:10 But it's just that we are not visible each other. We don't know much about African market from the Canada side. We don't know much about Canadian market and opportunity from Africa side. There's a big wall and we cannot actually break the wall just by meeting, connecting, exchanging business cards. So we need some permanent and regular solution. That's why we worked on Trade Ethiopia platform for the last 10 years. So, Trade Ethiopia is a platform, simply a digital platform, but not like as any regular marketplace.

4:39:58 It's an ecosystem because to connect businesses, we need more than a platform, more than a digital platform. What we need is we need talents, skills, you know, several services. So our platform comes with a digital marketplace, also a business school as a college focusing on international trade. We also host events in Ethiopia, across Africa and other places. Also, we have got the business media only focusing on the finance, markets and business opportunities. It's like similar to a bit of a Bloomberg. That's actually what we miss to connect every day, to talk every day, to be visible one another.

4:40:53 So I'm going to be giving you a very quick briefing about the Creatopia platform and the opportunities. And it can be a good gateway for businesses here to partner with African businesses and to do business, to be visible, and to do business. So I'm Barnaba Skidani, the founder and CEO of Trade Ethiopia, which is 10 years old. We founded in 2016. Before that, I've been serving as a captain at Ethiopian Airlines. But then I saw a bigger gap and found and now I'm leading a business, Trade Ethiopia. So it's just that simply what we do is 4 things.

4:41:41 Businesses list their services, their products on the platform. The platform is visible across Africa, Middle East and Asia. Now we are trying to be visible in Canada and North America. So far, we have interlinked 300,000 businesses since we start. And it's not only like we connected, but we also give free trials for businesses. It's like an integrated business service. It's not only matching businesses. We give business trainings. For example, you've trained more than 15,000 SMEs in the last 3 years.

4:42:32 It's just that we are not NGO. We are private business like any business. So then, but after training, after giving the right skill, you don't leave them just with a certificate. We connect them, we give them a market access within Africa and you know, with Africa versus the rest of the world. We also have got the job matching platform that's focusing on business so they can gain a business opportunity, a business job, and, you know, business also can access a trained personnel. And then we also host events, and we have got the media. So it can be a full circle. It can be serving the local, regional, and global market.

4:43:25 So the graduates are receiving practical trainings. So, But we need experience, especially in Ethiopia. The local SMEs, they don't have much experience about the rest of the world. But thanks to the social media, the TikTok and the YouTube, now they are learning more what's happening in the rest of the world. And they are fast learners, and they can be a good workforce. If the Canadian businesses, investors wanted to just enter to Ethiopian market, you see, these talents can be very, very helpful. So now we are here in Canada. This is my second time attending this wonderful platform by Canada Africa Chamber, which really we appreciated because since yesterday, we connected with so many interesting and very important partners.

4:44:22 And we are sure that we are going to convert these talks into action and we are going to already sign a memorial for understanding with other partners. So we are looking for your business to use our platform for free, maybe to try, and then to partner if you are an educational institutes, we wanted to partner with you. We want fellowship and the training internships, so and so, because we have got like 3 million plus SMEs in Ethiopia to be trained, needing the training and skills. So the ETO International Expo is a brand that is an expo or marketplace for events.

4:45:16 You can actually list your events on our platform and the Tradex TV is like a Bloomberg that you can also show your business, your products and your ideas on our YouTube TV and we still need a collaboration of hosting programs. And we are building 1 of the biggest trade hub in Ethiopia. We are already finalizing the design and feasibility. So we are going to be building the headquarter. And if you are interested entering into, you know, investing in venturing of the building, you are more than welcome to partner. So we are requesting to work together to join our marketplace.

4:46:09 You can find our, you know, the platform, scanning that code, And you can invest, you can partner, you can talk to us. And thank you for your attention. I know it's a long day. For myself, I flew more than 13 hours from Addis. And I'll be flying back another 13 hours on Friday. But it was really, really great event and I really want to thank the Canada African Chamber and we are happy to be here and thank you so much. Thank you very much, Bonobus. I'd advise you actually to stay at the podium for this one because you covered quite a few of the questions that I had, but given that many in the audience today are from fellow African markets, if you were to speak broadly, could you go to what you are looking to get out of today because the day is not yet complete from both Canadian companies as well as those on the African continent from peer countries that you'd like to serve.

4:47:10 So what are the main sort of business objectives for you in terms of ideal clients and landing new companies in Ethiopia? Yeah, especially from Ethiopia side, we've got a very good agricultural product. Microphone, microphone. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. So from Ethiopia side, we've got a good coffee. You know, we are a birthplace of coffee. And you know what, I'm closely working with the coffee farms and I know what based coffee that we have. And maybe now the Chinese market is like taking that opportunity, honestly, because we also have that. And from the Canada side, I think we've got also mining, we've got so many products and opportunities, and I think we can work both ways if I'm getting it right. Brilliant. And we don't have any more networking breaks and given some do have to leave as soon as the program ends.

4:48:05 Adedayo Thomas, I believe you had a quick question. Is that right? Thank you so much for showing us what we can gain from Utopia and to an extent Africa. But I really want to know and the audience to know, what are your policies for deregulations of businesses? There's so much restrictions. At least last year, I was an irregular, say, business tourist within the African space. What policy are you guys putting in place for free market economy, property rights, and principle of individualism? And one of the core things is communication. If you base yourself on this, and from experience, even from experience of this morning, yesterday morning, from some of my delegates, communication still remains in the hands of government. I can't imagine any country having 2 networks that is highly being regulated. What are the policy in place to facilitate this free market economy of the Ethiopians. Thank you.

4:49:20 And I burn a best understanding you're not in government specifically, but if you have any comments on that broadly, I mean with Ethiopia or beyond, I know that's a topical discussion on its own. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, I'm from the private sector, but I'm also part of a business. I'm a business person and I always look for a good regulation, but it seems the regulation is being liberated. It's getting better every day, especially for the last couple of years, things are changing. And I think when you come to Addis, we have to explore it together. And thank you so much for that. Thank you very much. All right. Bernabez, thank you. And if you run for office, we're going to invite you back and ask that question again. Congratulations.

4:50:08 Thank you. Thank you so much, Adedayo. I did mention special guests with us today, and it's amazing the efforts people bring in the commitment that they have to be in this room and one of those people quietly meeting away with so many today and with other meetings throughout the day is retired Colonel Khalif Shabal, a board member of Ken Invest, the Kenya Investment Authority. 3 weeks ago we had a bilateral and the work of Ken Invest in Kenya was critically important and raised. So, Khalif, Shabal, can I ask you to kindly rise so that those who haven't met you yet know you're here representing Ken invest? Thank you so much for being with us. We deeply appreciate it. And for anyone who would like to set up meetings or conversations, please let me know.

4:50:55 I know a number of us, of course, were in Kenya recently, and we've been there several times, but it remains very important. So we're grateful to you, to your parliamentary secretary, permanent secretary, everyone who's been key to your presence today, and of course, making the trip and being with us here in Toronto. Thank you so much, sir. Kenya is a country that is featured often in Ottawa at the Africa – at the trade and investment hub that is run by Susan Amolindwa, the Africa Trade Desk as we all know it. Susan, if I could invite you to take the floor for a few minutes just to share some of the work that you're doing. Susan was with us at the 2nd Canada Africa business conference that happened in Nairobi just a couple of years ago. And out of that conference, we saw enormous opportunities in aviation, site visits to various projects, and of course, a very warm welcome at the Serena Hotel with over 150 delegates, a dozen Canadian companies who were looking at East Africa specifically vis-a-vis the role of Kenya.

4:51:49 Susan, thank you so much for years of friendship and commitment to the continent, and it's such a pleasure to give the floor to you. Thank you, Gareth. Amen. What a beautiful day to talk about the place you love. For everybody that is still in the room, we always, at the chamber, we always serve the best for last, right? Say yes. Everybody nod your heads and say yes. Because of all things, I'm actually going to take a step back and highlight East Africa more than even the work I myself am doing. I'm going to talk about East Africa for every person in this room or even viewing us online who doesn't know what a jam we had about the jams and the opportunities and the gaps.

4:52:44 I'll talk to you about East Africa, not only because I'm from there, but because I am from there. But I know it has a bark of my hand. I'll tell you why East Africa. East Africa, in terms of trade, East Africa has been one of those established trade routes for generations. You can go from Nairobi to Higali, from Nairobi to Dard, from Nairobi to Entebbe. Within the region, you can go from each country to another country between 45 to 15 minutes of flight. We have done a lot of work around the border system. You can track your track from Mombasa to anywhere.

4:53:33 I am trade, I mean, we've been talking trade, for the people who know me, we've been talking trade with Africa for years. It seems for the long last the whole world is listening. Can you think trade and think with Africa, not think about East Africa? I don't know what you're talking about. If you want to know the opportunities, look at the refinery, Aliko refinery. I mean, the guy has brought East Africa on the map, even if he's from the West Africa. But what that is doing in East Africa is amazing. Bringing it down to the Canada-Africa strategy, East Africa has 2 of the countries, namely Kenya and Tanzania, on the countries where the strategy is going to be piloted.

4:54:31 Now, if the government of Canada is looking at East Africa, the richest man on the continent of Africa is looking at East Africa, we have worked with Kenya and Tanzania, the Chamber has been to, we have relationship. I am here, even if I'm here, I'm in Ottawa, but my heart lives in East Africa. Reach out. Let's bring some real tangible businesses there, real tangible business opportunities. At Africa Trade Desk, We have a portal for what is going. I remember last year, and I'll finish with this, last year, right here on this stage, We talked about the pivot Africa Trade Desk was doing to actually do trade between Africa and Canada, and I'm happy to report that we have actual commodities moving both ways.

4:55:34 Have you thought about Canadian wheat going to Mombasa? It is. Have you thought about Tanzania's cashew nuts hitting the Canadian shelves? Yes, we are. T from KTDA. What can I talk about? We've talked about real tangible examples. Find me. I'm wearing a nice coloured outfit. You can't miss me. Find me. I'll teach you everything you want to know about East Africa and more. Thank you. Thank you so much. Susan Amolimba, thank you very, very much. I'm looking forward to being back with you on East African soil very, very soon. Well, as we were hosting our most recent program in Nairobi, concurrently right here in Toronto, we had the leadership of the Canada East Africa Business Exchange and the managing director, Ramadani Ponda, hosting a vitally important session looking at the role of the region. And so while I wasn't able to attend, several members of our chamber and our board did, and for a few reflections on the important work being done by the Canada-East Africa Business Exchange, I'd like to welcome up a few remarks from Ramadani, but also to say that we as an ecosystem here at the Chamber are only as strong as the sum of our parts. And we are one part of that sum, and you are certainly another part of your work leading the Canada East Africa Business Exchange.

4:57:03 And I know you've got a few slides for us, so thank you so much for preparing that. Thank you, Gareth. Good afternoon, everyone. I am Ramadani Ponda, co-founder and managing director of CBEX, the Canada East Africa Business Exchange. It is a privilege to be here today. Let me acknowledge the presence of Ambassador Paula Caldwell. Thank you for having us here. I'm glad to see you as the president of the Canada Africa Chamber of Business, and as well as the Assistant Deputy Minister, Churchill Urban, and our host, Randy McCauley of Goodman's LLP. So thank you for the chamber for bringing us together. Now, Reflections on East Africa and in Kenya.

4:57:49 As very well spoken by my colleague Susan, 1 point that stayed with me in her speech here right now is that Kenya and Tanzania are currently countries where the strategy, the kind of Africa strategy is going to be implemented. So this speaks a lot towards the region. But the importance is not looking just as Kenya, it's looking at the region as a whole. So this Africa region combines countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Burundi. And this is a market where intra-regional trade has reached approximately $19.7 million in 2025 alone.

4:58:37 The opportunity is not simply to enter 1 country. It is to understand how the markets, the businesses, and institutions across the region connect together. Canadian businesses that understand the East African area or region as a whole, they can move faster than those that treat each country separately. And that is where CBEX comes in. CBEX is a trade facilitation and development platform connecting the East African region, East African businesses and institutions with Canadian markets, technology expertise and investment. So the challenge is not a lack of opportunity, The challenge is knowing where to speak, who to speak with, where do you start, and how to move from an introduction to a credible business relationship.

4:59:27 This is the gap that CBEX is designed to help close. So we started 3 years ago by convening, but now we are focused on what happens after this room. In 2024, in 2025, we engaged more than 350 participants. And in 2026, we facilitated mining delegations from Tanzania, involving 120 Tanzanian small-scale miners across 2 mining missions here in Canada. We engaged more than 400 exhibitions at the Canadian Mining Expo. And on September 15th, we held our third annual conference here in Toronto, focusing on agri-food as a sector. So those numbers matter to us, not simply because they are numbers, but they show an evolution from bringing people into the room to putting businesses and institutions in front of each other, to creating conditions for partnerships and commercial opportunities.

5:00:30 And I didn't come here alone. So today, I'm joined by our CEO and co-founder, Shaban Mbandu. Shaban, if you can please stand up. A round of applause for Shaban. And we also have Saeed Mohammed, who leads our strategy and partner development. Saeed, I think you just stepped out of the room. And we have curators, and we have a delegation of about 10 people from East Africa, but unfortunately could not make it here today. So in closing, if you're looking for partners in East Africa, they are in this room. Please introduce yourselves to them before you leave. Now, conversation is the easy part, but partnerships need a follow through. And that is where we focus. So I'd offer you 3 invitations today. To Canadian businesses and investors, tell us which East African market you are exploring and we will help you find the right counterparts.

5:01:25 To East African businesses and institutions, tell us what you want from Canada, whether that is capital, technology expertise, or market access. And to everyone that is in this room today, don't leave today with only a business card. Leave with a conversation that can become a partnership. Speak with us this afternoon, meet our delegation, and learn more about what we are building here at CBEX. The opportunity between Canada and East Africa is not theoretical. The markets are there, the businesses are there, and the relationships are being built. What we need now is more Canadian companies willing to engage and more East African businesses ready to connect. Asante Nisana, thank you so much.

5:02:19 Thank you so much for the work you're doing, and in a fairly short space of time, focusing on the block of East Africa and the opportunity to partner with you in that has been a really big privilege. Many people made it here just in the nick of time. Not everyone did, unfortunately. And so I've asked one of our speakers, who for those of you in Nigeria would know well, to kindly share us, just send us a 5 minute video, and then we'll move into the closing portion of the program. That individual is Olan Rawadju Olukunde, Managing Partner at Voronex. They were a key part of our program in Lagos. They had a recent event for a full hour about 2.5 weeks ago with our members. And here's a 5 minute summary of that, the work they're doing and how they're ensuring that Canadian businesses access African markets, working with key partners on the ground, and they're enabling that. Here's a short video from Olukunde. Thank you. Distinguished leaders, friends, partners and colleagues across Canada and Africa, it's such a pleasure to be with you today, even though not in the room physically.

5:03:19 Let me begin by acknowledging my very special friend, Garrett Bloor, the president of the Canada Africa Chamber of Business, retired Ambassador Paula Caldwell, the chair of the board, Cherry Uban from Global Affairs Canada, Randy McCauley and our host at Goodman's, and our very special Kennedy Okudile of Zenit Bank, and all the exceptional business leaders, investors, policy makers, and entrepreneurs gathered here today. I genuinely wish I could be with you physically in Toronto. I did all my possible best. Unfortunately, circumstances have made that impossible. And there is perhaps an irony to that, because I spend a significant part of my professional life helping companies successfully enter markets thousands of kilometers away from where their founders are sitting. So today apparently I'm demonstrating remote market entry personally. My name is Olanrewaj Olokunde and I'm the founder and the managing partner at Veronix Africa. Today, I want to leave you with 1 central idea. Africa is not a market to enter. Africa is a collection of markets to end. And I'm going to explain that. I believe that this matters today more than it did even a few years ago because the global economic map is being redrawn.

5:04:35 Old assumptions about trade are changing rapidly. Supply chains are being reconsidered. Countries are thinking harder about economic sovereignty, strategic resources, technology, manufacturing and where their future growth will come from. And Canada itself is asking a bigger question today. The question is, how do we build stronger economic relationships beyond the markets we have traditionally depended upon? And on the other side of the border, of course, I'm sure you're aware that the United States is becoming increasingly transactional about trade, technology, critical minerals and supply chains. So perhaps the question for this room is no longer simply what can Canada do in Africa? I think the bigger question is where does Africa fit in the next global economic order? And my answer is very simple, right in the middle of it. Let's talk about Africa. Africa is not simply 1.5 billion potential customers or consumers waiting to buy somebody else's product. Africa represents more than that.

5:05:36 Africa represents markets, 54 markets, talent, entrepreneurs, agriculture, energy, critical minerals, technology adoption, manufacturing potential, and some of the world's fastest changing commercial ecosystems. Which means Africa should not simply be sitting at the end of the global value chain. Africa should increasingly be helping to build it. And that creates an extraordinary opportunity for Canada. But here's the problem. Let's talk about the problem for a few minutes. For years, I've watched excellent international companies look at Africa and say, oh, there are more than 1 billion people there. The opportunity must be enormous. So they prepare PowerPoints, they calculate the total addressable markets. You know, they fly into Lagos, Nairobi, Accra, or Johannesburg. They have wonderful meetings. Everyone take pictures. LinkedIn looks so fantastic.

5:06:25 But 6 months later, someone in the boardroom is asking, where is the revenue? Because It's interesting, Africa has a fascinating ability to remind you that a good product and a good market entry strategy are not the same. You cannot copy Toronto, London or San Francisco and paste it into Lagos and click deploy. No, you can't do that. Let me say this, Africa, we all know your power points. So because market entry requires understanding how the market actually works, who influences the buying decision? How does regulation affect you? How long does procurement really take? What happens when the currency moves? Which local partnership matter? Those are very important questions. Who can actually get you into the room? And after you get into the room, who can turn that meeting into a transaction? The final question is where many strategies fail. And that is precisely why we built Viradex Africa. We help global and innovative companies to enter Africa, and we move them from African interest to market entry, from market entry to relationships, from relationships to pipeline, from pipeline to transaction, and from transaction to scale. We help answer 4 practical questions. Where should you enter? Who should you enter with? Who should you sell to? And how do you build something repeatable after the first deal? Because let me tell you, Africa does not have an opportunity problem. Very often, Africa has an execution bridge problem. The technology exists, the capital exists, the customer exists, the entrepreneurs exist, you know, the opportunity is there. But the bridge connecting

5:07:57 them does not always exist. And let me tell you that the bridge is what Voranex Africa is building. And I think there's even a bigger opportunity here for everyone listening to me. The next chapter of Canada Africa commerce should not be, oh, Canada has technology, so Africa has a need. No. Or Canada sells, Africa buys. No. That model is too small. The better model is Canada has technology, Africa has innovation. Canada has capital, Africa have markets. Canada has mining and industrial expertise, Africa has critical resources. Canada has global institutions, Africa has entrepreneurs, building entirely new categories of business. So I think we should ask, so what can we build together? This is the conversation. I believe we should be having today. So my invitation today is very simple. If you are a Canadian or international company looking at Africa and asking, where do we start? I want you to talk to us. If you already entered and you're asking, why are we not growing?

5:08:56 Talk to us. If you're an investor and one of your portfolio companies has an Africa expansion slide in its deck, please talk to us before they spend money. Sometimes the most profitable market entry decision is discovering what not to do. And if you're an African company looking for technology, strategic partnerships, global capital pathways into international markets, we want that conversation, too, because Voranex Africa is not interested merely in bringing the word into Africa. No, we want to build or want to help you build commercial pathways in both direction. To note, I have recorded a longer session where I unpack exactly how we think companies should enter African markets, why many expansion strategies fail, and what the emerging Canada-Africa commercial relationship could look like. The team will make the link available after this conference. Please watch it. But when you reach out afterwards, don't just send me, oh great presentation, Larry, you've really done well. No, I want a conversation to be like, oh, Larry, this is my complaint. This is what we do.

5:09:54 This is the market we are looking at. And this is what we are trying to achieve. Now we can have an interesting conversation because I believe strongly believe that the next chapter of Canada African relations will not be measured only by conferences held or speeches delivered or memoranda signed. It will be measured by companies built, capital deployed, technology transferred, products manufactured, markets opened, African companies going global and ultimately transactions completed. Africa is not waiting to be discovered. Let me mention that again, Africa is already building. The global economy is changing. Canada is looking outwards, Africa is looking forward And I believe, strongly believe, there is an extraordinary moment in front of us. The question is, will we build the bridge? At Voranex Africa, that is precisely the business we are in.

5:10:41 So again, I want to say a big thank you to the Canada Africa Chamber of Business. Thank you to everyone gathered here today. And I hope the next time we meet, maybe it's gonna be at another conference or not, but I'm sure it's gonna be around the transaction. Let's make Africa big. Let's do business in Africa. I'm really, really looking forward to conversations uplink or that would happen after this conference. Thank you again. My name remains Olan Rewaji Olukunde, the managing partner at Vuranix Africa. Thank you. Olan Rewaji doesn't need to be in the room to have a presence, that is for sure. And yeah, for all of these connections, in instances where we have those with videos, please let me know if you'd like to connect directly. That's what us and our Chamber team are here to do. I have another wonderful Nigerian and a dear friend who I'm going to invite to the podium in a moment. But I wrote just by way of a back story.

5:11:32 I was a politician once. Some say I still give off that vibe. And I had a dear counterpart from Nigeria. I was elected in South Africa. And he asked some very tough questions. So Bernabeus, you had it easy. And that was somebody committed to intrapreneurship and to business and to really seeking the common good And with a love of Nigeria and a love of the African continent that is contagious and that is a haji dr Adedoyo Thomas who is with us today You have laid on so many files. I have been able to attend premieres, profiling wonderful features on the African continent year at TIFF, but you've also been very passionate in addition to serving in the public sector and advancing Nigeria's film industry, which we'll cover today, committed to the broader economic project of prosperity, of economic cooperation, and fortunately for us in Canada, of the role of Canada as a partner. So for a few remarks, particularly on work you're doing to continue the furthering of film and partnership with Canada in what is currently the second biggest film industry on earth, certainly beating Hollywood, and that is Bollywood. Ahaji Adedayo-Thomas, welcome and thank you so much.

5:12:45 And we also had one of our very big receptions in Lagos that was kindly hosted at the Royal Palace. So if you missed that event in Nigeria, I'm going to put in a request for another closing reception. Thank you, Adedayo. Welcome. Well, thanks to everyone here. It's so wonderfully packed. And in most cases, you'd be surprised when you have 2 days seminars that's talking about businesses. You hardly find people towards the end of. But it has never been that of Gareth's conferences. The chair, I must thank you for holding forth all this while.

5:13:31 Gareth, too, said it. We've been friends for, we started when we were looking for free market economy property rights. I was like touring Africa and talking to students at the universities till we get to this level. Basically, I'm so excited. And I think not to talk much, Olariwatu Olokunde has specifically mentioned some sudden things at development in Africa. So he laid the background. So at times when you're speaking last, you should be happy because the things you prepare, you find it back somewhere. And you discover that people who spoke first must have laid the foundation for you. So it's a better platform for me. Coming into reality, the conferences we talk, especially this one, is having to activate that action.

5:14:24 Not about talking. Network must end into action. And I'm very happy within Africa, so far, so good. I think, from my own side, Nigeria is leading the force by making what we have had in the past, the meetings and network, bringing into reality. By bringing forth, for the first time since the inception of this conference, 6 Nigerian investors. Can we have you come around and let me introduce you? It's usually coming to conferences in Europe, America, Canada and saying, oh, what are the constraints?

5:15:12 Then people say, you can be there. What are the constraints? So then we start saying, financial, we're looking for those. But the principle, the real reality is you must have that financial backing first. Then you face those in Europe, America, Canada, that yeah, this is what we have. Today I'm presenting to you, aside from other businesses, the creative industry. I know a couple of you, a chunk of you, knows about creative industry. When we talk about creative industry, that's film, art, and several other ones. But the film industry have a chunk of what is called the creative industry. And I think in Africa, Nigeria is still leading forward. And even in the world, we're not doing badly. Other countries are falling too. These are the delegations I brought here. They're from different sector.

5:16:02 As small as they are, big in the pocket. So I was able to convince them that they should invest in the creative industry. And with him here, Hassan, I guess, Akibodi. Akibodi is a real estate in Lagos. It already has about 5 to 6 buildings. There is some joint venture with people, and not borrowing money from the bank, raw cash, straightforward. Beside him is Ikweli Shmuel Shudipe, who is equally into construction as well, as help in designing and building more than 20, solely including my palace, very close, about 5 minutes to the airport.

5:16:54 Whoever knows Mafoluku and Njaizawa, it's a walking distance. You can even jump to the international airport and take your flight. This is Oulu as well. It's a producer in the film industry. And it has other businesses. When you do businesses in any country, the first thing, the first thought you must know is the government regulation. And in most cases in Africa, that kills us, because we quickly jump into businesses without looking at the government regulations, which is very bad. Aisha here comes from the FIM Industry Regulatory Agency. We sponsored her to come. So by the time we're doing collaborations here, she'll be able to use her knowledge and say, no. This is going to work. This is not going to work. And of course, I have Bakari Mwetala here, who is equally into car stealings and big car washes in Nigeria. One of the best technological car washes in Nigeria is being owned by Moetala.

5:17:55 And of course, I have Olumide, which as a Adamo, sorry I've heard you. And I have Afiz Akimbode, who is also a real estate in Nigeria. All of them has contributed, I don't want to mention, but really chunk thousands of dollars to have a theme between Nigeria creatives and the Canadian creatives. So we're going to be shooting. They've contributed their money into that, which is going to be supervised by the business chambers here.

5:18:41 So now looking for the Canadians who is going to match that fund, because there's going to be a shoot here in Canada and a shoot in Nigeria. And principally, who is going to be comedian-like, but is going to expose our challenges, the prospect of the 2 countries. And if other African countries are interested in being part of the project, they are welcome. Now, Africa is bringing money here to invest. We're expecting all of you. Thank you, and God bless. Thank you so much, Adedayo. Appreciate that. Thank you very much, Adedayo. You know, everything is a journey in life, and I don't want to be the one to offer closing reflections after a conference like this. So I wanted to offer the floor to someone who has been a key part when we initially expanded for the first time beyond Canada to get on the ground. We went to Botswana and Jacques Ndumtumwe, one of our vice presidents who's rising now was on that journey. That was 2019.

5:19:47 And the majority of our activity now takes place on African soil. And so Jacques, with some closing remarks and reflections on this event, given your broad decade-long purview, I'll give the final word to you before I return to do the formal thanks. Thank you, Garrett. Thank you very much. Thank you, everyone, for being here. Bonjour tout le monde. My name is Jacques Ndumtumwe. I'm from Gabon, Central Africa. I've been at the chamber for a number of years now. I'm very excited and I heard a lot of very good things. I've been inspired by all the speeches here, particularly the panel earlier with the gentleman here, and also the gentleman I just spoke on the video talking about the bridge, because I think that's what we're trying to do here, having that bridge being built.

5:20:41 And closing remarks, I couldn't help but thinking about 2020, where we had, I think FEMA was directed not to send N95 masks into Canada. I don't know if you guys recall that during COVID. And it was so stressful and difficult for a lot of people here. But in Botswana, at the same time, there's an organization called BITRI, so Botswana Institute for Technology, Research and Innovation, that is involved in getting products from research and development to application.

5:21:27 And B3 could actually ship N95 masks to Canada quite easily. So they had the technology, they had the possibility, but just the conversation and the insight, if I can use that term, it was unknown. So Talking about a bridge, when you look at a bridge, if you don't see what's going on on the other side, you will not know what the other people are doing, what they can do for you or with you. So I think that was an opportunity where I was part of this discussion with Botswana, where this country had the potential to actually help Canada during that time. So bridge, I think we're all part of that bridge that is being built and is built now.

5:22:13 Now a bridge is an infrastructure that if we don't cross it, it's just concrete. So I think what we have to continue doing in terms of reflection is to cross, to continue to cross that bridge between Ghana and Africa, but to use the people that can help. You know, we heard about Susan with East Africa, we just had Nigeria with West Africa, we have Gabon here with Central Africa, that includes Cameroon and the Semarc region. So all of us, we are African, we are Canadian, we want the best from both sides. And I think, how many of you here are born in Africa, please? Beautiful, right?

5:23:00 But our main goal is to try to get more between both sides. So to make sure that Canada and Africa are both winners in winning this. So once again, thank you very much, Gareth, for everything.