Regional Conference: The Future of Private Sector Leadership in the Sahel

Against the backdrop of an ever-changing landscape in the countries of the G5 Sahel (Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger), the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) and the Sahel Business Coalition are bringing together regional business leaders and policymakers to two days of in-depth discussion on the future of private-sector led development in the region November 9th and 10th in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

The private sector plays a critical role in creating decent jobs, financing infrastructure development, and strengthening service delivery to communities. While economic reform that seeks to improve the business climate and develop new markets is increasingly a priority for the G5 Sahel countries, the success of this reform process to support economic transformation and sustainable development will require a grounding in the principles of inclusion and democratic dialogue.

In response to a request from private sector associations and leaders across the region, CIPE initiated a partnership with private sector representatives and the G5 Sahel Executive Secretariat in 2020. In the subsequent two years, the work of CIPE and the Sahel Business Coalition has sought to wholistically engage the Sahelian private sector (from corporates and SMBs to businesswomen, and young entrepreneurs) in a process of identifying solutions to support community resilience in response to the multiform challenges facing the region – from insecurity to climate change and women’s economic empowerment.

The conference will bring together representatives from the private sector across the G5 Sahel alongside high-level representatives from the G5 Sahel Executive Secretariat, the US Embassy, and the Delegation of the European Union to Mauritania, to discuss how to best leverage the power of the private sector to support economic growth and stability in the countries of the Sahel moving forward.

The link to a live stream of the conference keynote speeches will be posted here shortly.

Please follow @CIPEAfrica on Twitter for live updates from the conference.