The National Franchise Exhibition, the largest event of its kind in the UK, is taking place at Birmingham's NEC.

The exhibition offers a wide choice of existing franchises to buy and also provides feature areas and advice zones to provide entrepreneurs with an insight into the world of franchising. The exhibition will feature more than 250 franchise concepts from automotive to health and fitness and home improvement to food and drink, providing visitors with the opportunity to find a business that is matched to their specific interests and skills.  www.franchiseinfo.co.uk

True Media INT presents, Music On the Catwalk. (MOC) For the first time ever, Africa's best musicians will collaborate with African fashion designers to bring you Music on the Catwalk, A music and fashion extravaganza created with the primary aim of uniting Africa through entertainment. The show will promote and celebrate the exciting and vibrant African culture from countries such as Angola, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and many more with the aim of promoting the diverse talent in the Diaspora. Tickets: www.richmix.org.uk   Rich Mix Box Office: 0207 613 7498. www.musiconthecatwalk.com

Development Impact For Nigeria -DIFN is holding a development awareness conference Titled Meeting The Millennium Development Goals: Do the UK Based Nigerian Diaspora have a role to play?

The conference will take place on October 3rd at University of East London, Stratford Campus, junction of Water Lane and Romford Road, London E15. Time: 6pm prompt. All are cordially invited but DIFN would particularly wish to engage with young adults of Nigerian descent. For more information about DIFN please visit www.difn.org.uk

Times: Sat: 09h00-18h00 / Sun 10h00-16h00

Tickets: £8.50 pre-booking; £10 at the door (£1 of each ticket goes to the Tomorrow Trust). Tickets give access both days.

The Homecoming Revolution London Event is an excellent opportunity to find out all you need to know about returning or immigrating to South Africa. You will get a chance to meet potential employers, find property, explore education options and get all your questions related to moving answered. Come and listen to top speakers Francois Pienaar, Helen Zille - DA Leader & Mayor of Cape Town and Roelf Meyer, Action for a Safer South Africa, be entertained by top SA comedian, Trevor Noah. Exhibitors include RMB, Allan Gray, Nedbank Capital, Edward Nathan, Deloitte, Group 5 and many more.

For further information on the event, visit  www.wozaekhaya.co.za

The Inaugural Gala of The Black British Classical Foundation and the launch of the Voice of Black Opera competition take place at the Town Hall Birmingham.

To launch the cutting edge VOBOs, Sir Willard White will introduce some of the most extraordinarily talented young opera singers.

The Gala will be made up of a selection of operatic arias, spirituals and folk songs of Africa, the Caribbean and America.  www.theblackclassics.co.uk

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is organizing an Africa-based conference that will focus on banana and plantain research across Africa: lessons learnt and the way forward. Fostering international partnerships is a major objective of the conference, with particular emphasis to establish the role of research in promoting future commercial activities and trade in banana, plantain and ensete. There is an urgent need to target basic and applied research that connects to existing and emerging markets. This unique conference will be the first pan-African meeting to link research to markets in an African context.

This conference is being organized in partnership with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), Bioversity International, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) and International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS). We invite you to join us towards a successful and fruitful conference. The conference will attract an audience with varied but complementary experiences in order to optimize its impact in Africa. This conference will harness experiences from scientists and stakeholders from within and outside Africa. Registration and more information is available on the conference website: www.banana2008.com

The 15th Annual Africa Oil Week 2008 is the world's largest and most significant exploration and development event on Africa for the global oil exploration and gas-LNG industry Calendar, with key African Government decision-makers, State and National Oil Company delegations, with senior oil executives drawn from across the African oil and gas value chain.

This is the global event par excellence, consistently acclaimed on the industry's international calendar. As the premier management event in and for the African Continent, Africa Oil Week stands apart as the foremost deal making environment for the African exploration business. http://glopac.mbendi.com/events/e552.htm

How will your organisation ensure it fairs best in an environment of intense competition for top talent? The war for talent is showing no signs of slowing down. As talent management moves up the agenda for many organisations as tool for delivering competitive advantage it is critical for HR to have the ability to identify and develop the best talent. http://www.cipd.co.uk/cande/talent/about.htm

Opportunities are plentiful in Nigeria’s power supply industry as a whole new source of fast-track funding is being opened up for the unbundled and ready -for-launch power sector. The African Development Bank estimated in 2004 that Nigeria’s installed capacity was 5.900MW. In 2005 a new power holding company was created; the industry being unbundled into a series of six different generation companies, eleven distributor businesses and a single HV transmission company serving them all. Nigeria is home to many of the 250-million people that the World Bank’s Lighting Africa programme is planned to benefit through the introduction of new technologies. Many international supply companies are already expressing an interest in this. And because Nigeria is so large and its economy is so buoyant the country is seen as one of the most obvious national markets to target.

The beautiful and stunning Lake Malawi is the setting for The Lake of Stars Festival. For three days Western and African artists gather at the award winning festival for a musical, social and cultural exchange.

With music ranging from Afropop, folk and reggae to beatboxers and the best international DJs, the festival has something for everyone. Over the past few years Andy Cato, Felix B of Basement Jaxx, DJ Yoda, Mikey from Bugz in the Attic, Annie Mac, Rodney P and Skitz, Ben Westbeech, The Petebox and Joe Driscoll have rubbed shoulders and jammed with some of the best and most exciting African and global artists around. The three day festival promotes Malawian artists and provides travellers and locals alike with the opportunity to enjoy fantastic live music in an exotic and beautiful location whilst directly contributing to the country’s economy. Tickets outside Malawi available from www.ticketline.co.uk. Tickets in Malawi available from: Umunthu Theatre and Harry’s Bar, Old Town, Lilongwe. Phone: (+265) 887 8888 or will@lakeofstars.co.uk  www.lakeofstars.co.uk

The UK Old Girls’ Association is hosting the annual Wesley Girls’ High School Fundraising Ball at the Royal National Hotel, Bedford Way, London WC1H 0DG.

Dinner starts at 7 pm with dance and entertainment until 1 am. For tickets, contact Evelyn Dsane 07903 509 014 or Jennifer Layburn 07958 923884.

Today, the Moroccan economy is experiencing an unprecedented growth and is in need of resources and talents in different sectors. This first Moroccan recruitment event in North America brings over more than 30 leading Moroccan and international firms operating in Morocco.

This event is targeting students, graduates and professionals interested to explore career opportunities and the business areas in Morocco. It will be a unique opportunity for Moroccan firms to be known in North America, link with the highly skilled Moroccan professionals and attract these highly potential resources back to Morocco. www.careersinmorocco.com

This is for those of you who enjoy a good party and love dancing. There are not many places you can confidently go for a night of dancing, drinks and food in a relaxed environment, where you can just let your hair down and have fun.

For the over twenty fives, sometimes nightclubs are out of the question, if that is the case. Come and join us at Dance Night. Do book early by contacting St. Joseph’s Hall on 01753 886581 to avoid disappointment. Tables cannot be reserved so please arrive early. Gerrards Cross is on the A40 (20mins from Marylebone Station by car) 25mins by train.

After the massive success of the inaugural event in 2007 we once again present the most exciting event for young people in 2008 at the 5 Star London Marriott Hotel, Canary Wharf, West India Quay, E14 4ED. The Woodson Barrow Youth Luncheon includes role Models, Motivational Speakers, a Three Course Meal, Entertainment & Black History. It will be held on Saturday October 11th 2008 at the 5 Star, London Marriott Hotel, Canary Wharf, West India Quay, E14 4ED. www.woodsonbarrowluncheon.co.uk for more information.

Today’s competitive and fast moving economy has created a global pool of professional fraudsters. The corporate world is complex and in the case of fraud, particularly against the backdrop of different markets, industry practices, cultures, national laws and organisations. The types of fraud that surface these days are constantly changing. Anti-Money laundering, ATM, Credit, Employee Fraud are prevalent and growing substantially. Fraudsters design new ways of scheming against people or organisations. But why does Fraud happen frequently? Are organisations satisfied with their internal controls and think they have good governance. Is internal audit done thoroughly? What is the loophole in our anti-fraud methodologies?

How can companies become fraud free? Almost 90% of fraud is done by internal staff and so what employee screening methods should companies employ? The Global Fraud Summit will showcase successful anti-fraud strategies used by organizations to prevent, deter and eliminate fraud altogether. http://www.globalfraudsummit.salvoglobal.com/

General Counsels increasingly play key roles as strategic business partners rather than simply advisors. Building on five years of highly successful annual General Counsel summits, this event will bring together in-house lawyers and senior executives and is an ideal way to network with your peers and share experiences. E-mail: weurope_customerservice@economist.com

The aim of this Africa themed evening is to raise money to build a training workshop and craft centre in SW Uganda to be used for teaching vocational and business skills, to help set up various small income-generating businesses in the Ruhanga area and provide clean safe water supply for several hundred families in SW Uganda. Guest speaker is Shahid Azeem of Ch4’s Millionaires’ Mission and Miremebe Campbell, a top Ugandan model, will host the event. Charles Kyazze will entertain with Ugandan Dance and Drum music. Tickets are available online at www.lethemhelpthemselves.com or via Ann McCarthy on

ann@annmccarthy.co.uk, t: 01932 562757 or 07867 513588. www.ugandanetwork.org. The event is sponsored by the charity organisation "let them help themselves" , an eco-social move to address poverty in parts of the developing world through the goodwill of networks of corporate businesses or enterprises e: ann@lethemhelpthemselves.com

The Boundless Southern Africa TFCA 2010: Tourism Investment Conference is aimed at the regional and international investment community. The conference was inspired by the vision of sharing the benefits of hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa with the region through a concerted effort of promoting and developing Southern Africa’s Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs or Peace Parks) in a sustainable way.

A portfolio of 42 unique investment projects within the seven existing TFCAs has been identified for development by 2010, which will be showcased to interested organisations and individuals at the above conference. These projects are prime investment opportunities in the hospitality sector ranging from bush camps and game lodges to 5-star hotels. For further details about this initiative, please visit www.boundlessinvest.com.

For the program of this annual meeting of the European and African Small & Medium-Sized Businesses: Conferences, Round Tables, Workshops, qualified meetings B to B, exhibition area, visits of industrial sites. The 8th edition of this Forum will bring together about 800 participants (companies and officials delegations) from over 30 countries from Africa and Europe. This year, the Guest Country will be the Republic of the Congo. Further information/registration: www.eurafric.org

Africagrowth Agenda will host the Annual Africa SMME Conference and Awards on the 23 October 2008. The theme of the conference will be: The Economic Power of Small Micro and Medium Enterprises: African Success Stories. The Agenda has been involved in the field of SMME research and development for sometime with an ultimate goal of “creating awareness of the need to promote, support and encourage investment in the SMME sector in Africa”. It sees the establishment of the Africa SMME Conference and Awards as a project which could significantly contribute towards this objective.

The 2008 conference will once again host the Africa SMME Awards Banquet, during which the top SMMEs in Africa will be announced. The SMME Sector is identified by African governments, NEPAD major, private sector institutions and other Africa development-related institutions as the engine of growth for the continent. http://www.africagrowth.com

Join a glittering crowd of business and community luminaries for an evening of dinner, dance and sheer entertainment-a celebration of the achievements of Black entrepreneurs & achievers. The award promises to give you an experience of a lifetime! Our special host this year is TV presenter Jacqui Joseph with special appearances from other celebrities.

The Inauguration of the Association of Ghanaian Professionals in Ireland (AGPI) takes place at the Clarion Hotel, Liffey Valley, Dublin 22, Ireland. The theme of the event is "The Role of Education and Entrepreneurship in Ghana’s quest to attain a Middle Income Status – Lessons from the Celtic Tiger era". Dress code: Traditional. Guest of Honour: Mr. Annan Cato, Ghana’s High Commissioner to Ireland and U.K. Enquiries to: info@agpireland.org