Page 28 - LCNL News & Events August 2021

“Realising A ica’s Potential” Update

We are pleased to report that LCNL Link’s recent webinar
moderated by Sanjay C. Rughani and Jeet Rughani on “Realising
Africa’s Potential” presented by Lord Dolar Popat – Prime
Minister’s Trade Envoy has been a roaring success, with over
£100m of trade having been achieved between Africa & India as
result of the seminar. The webinar’s esteemed panellists, featuring
Mayur Madhvani (Joint Managing Director of Madhvani Group of
Companies), Vimal Shah (Chairman of Bidco) and Dr Ken Giami
(CEO of African Leadership) has really helped to inspire British
born business leaders.
Africa is a continent that is very close to the heart of many of our members. This
was proved by the large number of participants who took part in the webinar. As
Lord Popat said, post-Brexit we are now in a new United Kingdom, with enormous
opportunities of free trade across key emerging markets which we must realise.
As our panellists said, the world may have changed signi cantly over the last year,
but the ambition of the UK remains the same - to become the investment partner of
choice for new emerging markets such as Africa. That is why we were so pleased to
see such strong engagement amongst our business community.
We have received many queries since the webinar, but below is a summary of a few
success stories within the community:
1) Fresh Food Produce – following the webinar one member has followed up on the
opportunities available in the fresh produce sector, by importing wholesale fruit
and vegetables from Uganda.
2) UKEF – a lot of members have been in touch regarding UK Export Finance, which
has increased its total limit to £42 billion to support exports for businesses of all sizes,
with £10 billion to support customers a ected by COVID 19.

3) Pharmaceutical Sectors – those members in the pharmaceutical industry
are exploring options of investing in Africa. This would be a huge opportunity
for UK companies to invest in Africa’s growing health industry. One major UK
pharmaceutical companies have expressed an interest thus far.
4) Hydrology – following the seminar and the increased focus on climate change with
COP26, one member who is an engineer by background is working on a number
of engineering intervention projects in relation to oods, droughts and climate
change in Africa.
Africa is on the move and is poised to play a bigger role in this world which is moving

out of the shadows of the past and being replaced by the light it o ers in the
interconnected world. We are pleased that this webinar made a huge di erence in

highlighting the opportunities and support available. For any members who require
any further information please us.
Following the success of this webinar on Africa, to carry on our
engagement with key emerging markets, we will be focusing on
investing in India. The webinar with an exclusive panel of UK-
India trade advocates will be organised in the next 6 months or
so. Details will be released soon.
Sanjay Rughani

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