The first New York Forum AFRICA will be held in Libreville in Gabon, from 8-10 June 2012 / Africa, new magnet for the world economy

By Richard Attias & Associates

LIBREVILLE, Gabon, April 30, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- 45 days to go until the first New York Forum AFRICA (http://www.ny-forum-africa.com) to be held in Libreville in Gabon, from 8-10 June 2012, and numerous personalities are responding to the call of a continent which from now on is one of the players in world growth.

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At the initiative of Richard Attias & Associates, under the esteemed patronage of President Ali Bongo Ondimba and in collaboration with the government of Gabon, 600 leaders in economics, politics and public opinion from all over the world will be gathering in Libreville from 8–10 June 2012. Among those making an active contribution are:

 JACQUES ATTALI, author and economist

 SHANTA DEVARAJAN, Chief Economist of the World Bank's Africa Region

 MOHAMED EL BARADEI, Nobel Peace Prize 2005

 CHARLES KOFFI DIBY, Minister of Finance from the Ivory Coast

 CARL LEWIS, nineteen times gold medallist athlete

 VERONE MANKOU, CEO of Way-C and creator of the first African tablet computer

 CHEICK MODIBO DIARRA, Prime Minister of Mali

 LUC MONTAGNIER, from the Pasteur Institute and Nobel Prize for Medicine 2008

 DICK PARSONS, president of CTI

 JEAN PING, president of the African Union Commission

 ARIANE DE ROTHSCHILD, vice-president of the Edmond de Rothschild Holding

 NOURIEL ROUBINI, economist

 ANDREW YOUNG, former US ambassador to the United Nations

 MUHAMMAD YUNUS, father of microfinance and Nobel Peace Prize 2006…

Africa, source of sustainable growth

With over a billion inhabitants, 45% of whom are aged under 15 years, Africa is undergoing a sea change. Neither the global financial crisis, nor the political jolts have managed to stall the dynamic progress of a continent which has manifested itself in an average growth rate of over 5% for 2012 (source FMI).

A veritable “hotbed of ideas” working towards the development of Africa, the New York Forum AFRICA aims at offering innovative solutions to sustain the development of a continent which has already seized the opportunities from the new economy and encouraging international investment through better knowledge of current projects.

Over the three days, all the challenges relating to development of Africa will be tackled : regional integration, finances, natural resources, tourism, new technologies, health, town planning, agriculture, infrastructures, security, energy, foreign investment, partnership with China, or the rôle of the diaspora and encouraging return in collaboration with the African Business Club of Harvard.

Finally, a special day on 11 June 2011 will be devoted to women's issues in Africa as part of the Dialogue for Action Africa organised by the Cecilia Attias Foundation for Women.

Distributed by the African Press Organization on behalf of Richard Attias & Associates.

For further information go to : http://www.ny-forum-africa.com

Contacts

Théophile Bignon

+ 33 (0)1 44 82 67 05 / + 33 (0)6 23 05 14 16

[email protected]

Catherine Meddahi

+ 33 (0)1 44 82 67 07 / + 33 (0)6 08 14 49 70

[email protected]

Romain Grandjean

+ 33 (0)1 42 68 83 90 / + 33 (0)6 73 47 53 99

[email protected]