AGENDA
Day 1 Marrakech : Monday, 27th November 2017
| 09:00–09:30 | Opening ceremony Keynote speakers:
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| 09:30–11:00 | Plenary session China-Africa: priorities and new development frameworks As Africa’s leading economic partners, Chinese investors present in all sectors, both traditional and innovative. However, the relation between China and Africa still fails to reach its full potential as underlined by a McKinsey survey that estimates that revenues generated in Africa by Chinese companies could increase by up to 144% by 2025. What are the existing obstacles to this and how can they be overcome? Will the “One Belt One Road” initiative (OBOR), presented as a unique occasion to accelerate Chinese investments in the world, and particularly in Africa, make this relationship evolve?
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| 11:00-11:30 | Networking break |
| 11:30–13:00 | Plenary session China, an industrial accelerator of the African continent? With more than one billion people and competitive labour costs, Africa represents the future of the industry and a competitive environment for Chinese industrial relocation, at a time when the world value chains are evolving. However, the Chinese source only 47% of their inputs locally, and examples of co-production are still rare, due to high costs and a level of industrialization that is still too low. Has Africa, which needs to accelerate its industrialization, found the ideal economic partner in China?
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| 13:00-14:30 | Networking lunch |
| 14:30–16:15 | Plenary session Invest in Africa: trends, scope and points of entry Even if China is the first international investor in Africa, Sino- African partnerships still have strong potential development. African expectations and Chinese interrogations need to align for this growth to be mutually beneficial. Morocco, which signed fifteen strategic agreements with China in 2016 and has a particular relation with the rest of the African continent, can act as a key link. How can African expectations be better aligned with Chinese investors’ interests? How can Morocco position itself as the crossroad of Chinese investments in Africa? How to build a shared and profitable future for all concerned?
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| 16:15–16:45 | Fashion Show by Zhor Raïs
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| 16:45–17:45 | Networking session |
| 16:45-17:45 | Roundtable meeting by reservation
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| 19:00–22:00 | Gala dinner |
Day 2 Marrakech : Tuesday, 28th November 2017
| 09:00–10:15 | Plenary session What key players and financial tools to serve China-Africa cooperation? Investment funds, sovereign funds, state and private banks... Many players serve the Chinese and African private sectors. They enable African and Chinese companies to run their investments more efficiently, African states to meet their funding requirements. However, they are still difficult to identify and involve. What are the traditional and innovative funding tools for the China-Africa relationship? How can they be made more accessible and efficient?
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| 10:15-10:30 | Networking break |
| 10:30–11:30 | Plenary session China, the ideal partner to reduce the infrastructure deficit? The infrastructure deficit costs Africa 2% of growth every year according to the World Bank. To catch up, 93 billion dollars per year would be necessary. Inclusive growth and integration into the global economy for Africa will require the development of its infrastructures in transport, and energy and notably in the ICT sector. With an estimated capital of 3 000 billion dollars, the Chinese invest massively in the continent’s infrastructures, while transferring know-how and technology. Even if they are immediately profitable, these investments still generate issues that African and Chinese key players need to address.
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| 11:30-11:45 | Networking break |
| 11:45–12:45 | Plenary session Shared growth: reinforcing relations between Africa, China and Europe Partnerships between Europe, China and Africa aim to place the African continent’s economic growth in a multilateral frame, and pool all partners’ forces. The creation of a France-China fund to finance Franco-Chinese projects is in line with this ambition. With an endowment of €300 million that could increase to €2 billion, it is jointly managed by the Chinese Investment Corporation and the French Caisse des dépôts et consignations. Will this model expand and what are its advantages?
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| 11:45-12:45 | Roundtable meeting by reservation
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| 12:45-14:30 | Networking lunch |
| 14:30–15:30 | Plenary session Renewable energies: will China bring light to Africa? According to the International Energy Agency, half of Sub- Saharan Africa’s new energy capacities comes from Chinese companies. They mainly come from renewable energies, a sector in which China has invested massively since 2014. Given the needs (more than 600 million African people still don’t have access to electricity) and the technological and infrastructure challenges, at a time when an innovation and cooperation alliance has just been created, are Chinese investors the most relevant partners?
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| 15:30–16:00 | Networking break |
| 16:00–18:00 | China-Africa project pitching With an audience of 150 Chinese investors, heads of African public and private companies submit their projects as investment pitches, in order to convince Chinese investors to form concrete partnerships. Speakers:
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| 18:00-18:30 | Closing ceremony Interview session Speakers:
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| 18:30–20:30 | Gala dinner |
