As the Africa Club at London Business School prepares to host its 6th annual Africa Day, ReConnect Africa speaks to co-President of the Africa Club, Gbenga Olatunji, about the forthcoming event.

With the theme ‘The African Century: Transforming the Continent of Opportunity’, the London Business School’s Africa Club will be launching Africa Day 2007 in London on May 26th.

The Africa Club at the London Business School is a student-run organisation that brings together London Business School students, alumni, and professionals from around the world who share an interest in Africa. Through its ongoing speaker series, business and cultural trips to Africa, evening business dinners and other events, the Club aims to provide networking opportunities and career support for current students and alumni and to promote African interests at London Business School through educational events for the entire academic community.

The Africa Club also provides a source of support for prospective students from Africa to the London Business School and works to raise the profile of London Business School in Africa and amongst professionals around the world.

The Club’s flagship event is its annual Africa Day which, in 2007, will take place on May 26th at London’s City Hall. For co-President Gbenga Olatunji, this event represents the highlight of the Club’s activities.

“Africa Day is London Business School Africa Club's main event each year,” he explains. “The conference's general goals are to promote investment and business opportunities in Africa, provide a platform for exchanging ideas within the African and Diaspora communities in London as well as giving visibility to successful Africans and African businesses.”

Olatunji and his co-President Miranda Hall have worked with a committed group of fellow students to create an exciting and challenging conference.

“The theme of this event is built around our belief that leadership is the key requirement for achieving major performance improvements in Africa and African organisations,” he says. “Africa Day is a leading African Business Conference in Europe and supports London Business School’s vision to be the pre-eminent global business school. It is our belief that the African continent is undergoing positive transformation and this is the time to achieve its potential.”

The conference brings together leaders from business and politics as well as practitioners to examine key issues and to explore tangible leadership and investment opportunities that can help create and maintain sustainable growth. The conference will be tackling a range of issues including the question of creating sustainable leadership in Africa and identifying how African businesses can capture more value from the investments flowing into the continent.

The organisers have planned a full programme that includes keynote addresses and what promises to be a lively debate on political leadership. A number of breakout sessions will address the case for reforming the process of leadership in Africa, tackling corruption and improving governance in Africa, exploring how African can profit from her own resources, strategies for transforming public services as a vehicle for growth and creating the next generation of leaders.

As a leading business institution in Europe, the Business School’s Africa Club is naturally focused on addressing the role that Diaspora Africans can play in shaping the future of African leadership. During the day, returnees who are making an impact in their fields will be sharing their stories and the conference will debate the role of the Diaspora in participating in major infrastructure and development projects as well as the role of remittances from the African Diaspora in driving economic growth.

“Our overall goal for the next Africa Day Conference is to inspire a new generation of African leaders,” says Gbenga Olatunji. “This includes promoting sustainable business opportunities in Africa, inspiring participants to transformational roles in business and the public sector, challenging current leadership perspectives and empowering participants with the experiences of transformational leaders from within and outside the continent.”

For more information about Africa Day, visit www.londonafricaclub.org or email africa.club@london.edu