Talking Trade: Entrepreneurship in Africa Tuesday May 13, 2014 * 10:00 AM to 12 Noon nd Hofstra University Axinn Library, 2 floor, Room 246 PROGRAM
10:00-10:05
10:05-10:30
10:30-10:55
10:55-11:20
Welcome and Introductions Gioia Bales, Associate Dean, Frank G. Zarb School of Business Moderator: Tanya Cole, U.S. Commercial Officer, LI USEAC Live from South Africa! Entrepreneurship in Africa Professor Richard Hayes, Frank G. Zarb School of Business Expanding Private Sector Participation in Africa Michael Sudarkasa, CEO Africa Business Group Live from Hofstra! Branding, Marketing and Communications: Keys to Success Adiat Disu, CEO, Adiree
11:20-11:35
Doing Business in Africa - Resources Susan Sadocha, Long Island US Export Assistance Center
11:35-11:50 11:50-12:00
Q&A and Closing Remarks Networking
Program Participants – Biographies in order of Program
Gioia Bales
Gioia Bales holds a B.S. magna cum laude from Syracuse University and an M.B.A. in finance (with distinction) from Hofstra University, where she was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma. As Associate Dean, she is responsible for all aspects of the undergraduate degree program. Before joining the Hofstra University faculty, Dean Bales was a senior research analyst in the bond market research department of Salomon Brothers, Inc. For more than eight years she authored extensive research reports on the domestic and international bond, money and foreign exchange markets that were distributed to institutional investors worldwide. Her areas of expertise include floating-rate instruments, interest rate swaps, Eurodollar bonds and medium-term notes. Dean Bales has also contributed articles to the following books published on the financial markets: The Handbook of International Investing, Inside the Swap Market, The Library of Investment Banking and Interest Rate Swaps. While at Salomon Brothers she also completed its sales and trading training program, a comprehensive six-month program on all aspects of the securities industry, and became a licensed securities representative. More recently, Dean Bales was a consultant in the global fixed-income research department at Merrill Lynch in Manhattan. She was a regular contributor to its biweekly publication Currency & Bond Market Trends, focusing on credit spreads throughout the global bond market. Other research projects at Merrill Lynch include an analysis of the global interest rate swap market, the size and structure of the world bond market, and global debt holdings. In December 1994, she was the recipient of the Golden Key Award, a national recognition for excellence in teaching.
Prof. Richard Hayes
Dr. Hayes received his Ph.D. in Management and Organizations from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. In addition, he earned a BA degree with honors in Business Administration from Morehouse College, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. His research has been published in the African Journal of Business Management, Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Executive. His research areas include entrepreneurial activity both in the United States and in emerging economies and the management of innovation. An experienced African educator, Dr. Hayes has taught management and organizational behavior at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, leadership and change at the Lagos (Nigeria) Business School, and business plan development in Sierra Leone. He was invited to lecture to business and public health students at Africa University (Zimbabwe) and is presently a visiting professor in the Faculty of Management at the University of Johannesburg where he is teaching both undergraduate and master level courses in entrepreneurship.
Michael Sudarkasa Michael E.M. Sudarkasa is the CEO of the Africa Business Group, an economic development company that focuses on promoting private sector development in Africa and trade and investment within Africa and between Africa and the global business community. ABG has a particular sectorial focus on agribusiness and renewable energy development. Born and raised in the US and resident in South Africa since 1999, Michael is of American and Nigerian heritage. Professionally, Michael is a U.S. commercial attorney by training, and an African economic and private sector development practitioner, in terms of the preponderance of his work over the past 20 plus years. As a consultant, Michael currently serves as the Project Manager of the South African Solar Energy Technology Road Map process that is being driven by the Department of Energy and Department of Science and Technology. He also supports the UN Development Program (UNDP)’s African Facility for Inclusive Markets and he also serves as an Advisor on the continent’s Regional Economic Communities for the Capacity Development Unit of the African Union’s NEPAD Planning and Coordination Agency. In addition, he serves as an advisor to the African Forum of Utility Regulators and since 2004, he has been an advisor and contributor to the African Union’s African diaspora engagement programme with a specific focus on the development and facilitation of economic linkages between the continent and the global African diaspora. On behalf of the African Union’s Citizens Directorate, Michael is also a member of the Europe Africa Partnership’s Joint CSO Steering Committee on the Joint Africa-Europe Strategy. Lastly, he is a member of the Board of the US based youth energy and entrepreneurship nonprofit organization “E-Three Labs”. Michael has travelled, worked, or provided training and development assistance in 48 countries in the world (including 32 in Africa). Michael received his Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of Michigan -Ann Arbor, with High Honors in History (African/African American Studies concentration). He also received a Juris Doctorate degree from Harvard Law School. He has been certified as an International Trade Specialist by the U.S. National Association of State Development Agencies, and has also served as an Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown University Graduate School of Business teaching a course on Investing in Africa. He is fluent in French.
Adiat Disu
Public Relations & Communications Director, Economic Leader and Ambassador for Africa's Entrepreneurs, featured in a two page spread in Black Enterprise, Adiat Disu as a young entrepreneur was selected to speak to African Women Delegates at the United Nations, during the African Women Entrepreneurship Program, with Diane von F端rstenberg as the keynote speaker (Read more at the LA Times). and elected to speak in Washington D.C. to speak to African Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SME's) about the challenges and opportunities of competing globally, with Hillary Clinton as the keynote speaker. FORBES Africa "Top Mover and Shaker in the African Fashion Industry," Disu focuses on re-conditioning consumer thoughts and behavior towards Africa. Positioning Africa as a destination for luxury brands, Adiree has taken exclusive brands from Africa and placed them on nationally esteemed and recognizable stages via placements. The result: increased awareness of African fashion by 8.5 million views; $300+ K (as of Dec. 2013) generated in financing for African designers and artisans, to showcase in the U.S; media such as CNN International ( CNN Interviews), Los Angeles Times , Destiny Magazine (South Africa), Elle (Bulgaria), Black Enterprise, Washington Post, and Huffington Post exposing emerging luxury brands from Africa. Through partnerships, quality productions, campaigns, and media placements Adiree is establishing the way consumers should view products from Africa (i.e. Made in Angola, Made in Zimbabwe, or Made in Nigeria) Disu's firm Adiree "The premier communications and branding firm, in New York for African and global business leaders in multiple industry segments, from entertainment to fashion, beauty, politics, media, and government sectors" Black Enterprise Forbes successfully completes projects that not only provide Africa women empowerment but opportunities to Africa's entrepreneurs, while branding and communicating that strengths their reputation.
Susan Sadocha
Susan Sadocha joined the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Long Island U.S. Export Assistance Center in February 2014 as an International Trade Specialist. Ms. Sadocha has spent the majority of her career in the international trade and development arena holding various policy and programmatic positions within USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in Washington D.C. While at FAS, she managed several portfolios which sought to increase US agricultural exports, including her role as USDA liaison to international organizations related to the food and agricultural sectors, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and as an Advisor to senior U.S. government policymakers. She has extensive experience managing both USG and private international exchange programs at the professional, post-graduate, graduate and secondary levels, and has evaluated global food assistance programs in Russia, Eastern Europe and the Balkans. A native of the South Shore of Long Island, in 2011 Susan moved to the NY metropolitan area and began consulting in international trade, as well as held a position at AFS-USA, a leader in inter-cultural exchange programs. Susan possesses a M.A. in International Relations from Boston University, and a B.A. in International Studies from Long Island University.
Tanya Cole
Tanya Cole joined the U.S. Commercial Service in 2006 as a Foreign Service Officer after more than 20 years of experience in the private sector working on engineering and environmental infrastructure projects in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Ms. Cole served as Environmental Engineering Expert for the French Development Agency, USAID and the World Bank for water treatment, transportation, roads and waste management projects. Currently Ms. Cole is the U.S. Commercial Officer based at the U.S. Long Island export assistance center serving the New York and Tri-State businesses by leveraging her business expertise in Africa, Middle East and South America emerging markets. Ms. Cole is also one of the lead U.S. Commercial Service representatives on the U.S. Presidential Doing Business in Africa Campaign targeted at assisting SMEs export to Africa. She also served in Tunisia as the Senior Commercial Liaison Officer to the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the U.S. Commercial Service, Office of the U.S. Executive Director and Commercial AttachĂŠ at U.S. Embassy, Bogota, Colombia. Ms. Cole has a MA degree in Diplomacy and International Relations, with distinction, Certificate in Health Sciences, BS in Biochemistry and a BA in Psychology, from the University of Westminster London, Harvard, and UCLA, respectively. Ms. Cole speaks French and Spanish.