President Talon has a background in business

Benin President Patrice Talon will give the keynote address at the Nordic-African Business Summit in Oslo, Norway on November 8, according to information released by the organizers, Norwegian-African Business Association (NABA).

President Talon, who has been leader of the West African country since 2016, has a background as a businessman (trade and private investments), NABA notes.

As a businessman he believed he could not exclude himself from the political arena, and this marks his way into politics.

The president’s address to a plenary session will be followed by a keynote conversation featuring Norway’s Foreign Minister Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide and Mo Ibrahim, chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation.

Others scheduled to take part in the conversation are Marina Diboma, deputy director of the Netherlands-Africa Business Council, Tellef Thorleifsson, incoming CEO of Nordfund and Lanre Akinola, editor of African Business Magazine.

The summit, to be held at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel, will continue with Togolese Foreign Minister Professor Robert Dussey, Jacob Kjeldsen, director of Danish Industry International Business Development and Kristian Siem, founder and chairman of Siem Industries Group making high level presentations on the blue economy.

High level outlooks on finance will then be presented by Jens Thomassen of AP Moller Capital and Norwegian industrialist and investor Johan H Andresen, who serves as chairman of Fred AS.

The event is expected to bring together movers and shakers in the African markets, and continues in a parallel sessions format in the afternoon with Paul Holthus, CEO and founder of the World Ocean Council, speaking also about the blue economy.

Arancha González, executive director of International Trade Center will deliver talks on agribusiness and food while Chalker Kansteiner, founder of GridX Africa speak about energy. Jens Thomassen will talk about energy.

Set between the plenary and parrellel sessions are networking breaks, a networking lunch and speed meetings, the program of the whole day affair states.

Organised every year since 2011, the summit is an important platform for the meeting of policy makers and business executives, with 500 delegates from 30 countries attending last year.

“Since our first Summit in 2011, more than 200 speakers, and more than 2200 delegates, have made this conference the place to be for business people focusing on Africa,” NABA, whose managing director is Eivind Fjeldstad, notes on its website.