The names of the eminent speakers who will be headlining the upcoming India-Africa Entrepreneurship & Investment Summit in Mauritius to be held on 19th July 2024 at the InterContinental Mauritius Resort Balaclava Fort.
The list includes stellar personalities such as long-standing Indian Parliamentarian Suresh Prabhu; TDB Group President Admassu Tadesse; ex-Tata sustainability expert Dr Mukund Rajan; IAN Fund partner Padmaja Ruparel; Narnolia Group’s Founder and CMD Krishna Narnolia ; ABAN President Tomi Davies; CEO AfriLabs Anna Ekeledo; Mauritius Institute of Biotechnology CEO Rattan Gujadhur; BIRAC Mission Director Dr Manish Dewan; SIDBI Deputy MD Sudaatta Mandal; Artha Ventures partner Anirudh Damani; renowned journalist Anil Padmanabhan and prominent Indian industrialist Sushil Jiwarajka.
This highly anticipated event is hosting its fourth edition with the support of the Economic Development Board of Mauritius. The India-Africa Entrepreneurship and Investment Summit has established itself as the go-to platform for industry leaders and established entrepreneurs on both sides of the Indian Ocean.
This year’s Summit is set to bring together industry leaders, entrepreneurs and investors to explore sustainable growth opportunities and deepen economic ties between the two vibrant regions, given that India and Africa have similar developmental needs and it is expected that new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, can help Africa to ‘leapfrog’ into a new future.
Meet the speakers
As such, speakers from amongst the ranks of pre-eminent Industrialists, Entrepreneurs, Thought Leaders, Policy Makers and Investors from both Africa and India are an integral part of the event, and we are pleased to unveil the key speakers who will address the audience at the Summit.
Suresh Prabhu
Shri Suresh Prabhu is a veteran politician and diplomat who has held key positions such as the Minister of Civil Aviation, Railways, Commerce & Industry, among others. He has been a Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) for 4 consecutive terms from 1996 to 2016, and later a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) since 2016. Suresh Prabhu has constantly featured in the list of top five ministers in India from 2014 to 2017 in terms of both performance and accessibility in nationwide surveys conducted by various institutions. He has also served as India’s Sherpa to the G7 and G20.
Admassu Tadesse
Mr Admassu Tadesse is TDB Group President & Managing Director and Chairman of the TDB Group Executive Management Board. He co-chairs the boards of directors of TDB Group, the Trade and Development Fund (TDF), the TDB Captive Insurance Company (TCI), the TDB Fund Manager (ESATAL) and the ESA Trade Finance Fund (ESATF). He serves on the governing organs of several global and continental industry bodies, notably the International Development Finance Club, Finance in Common and the Africa Investment Forum. He is a recipient of multiple industry awards, including African Banker of the Year, African Business Leader of the Year and African Development Banker of the Year.
Dr Mukund Rajan
Dr. Mukund Rajan is the Chairman of ECube Investment Advisors and a former Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He has held a number of senior executive positions through his 23 year career with the Tata group – the first Brand Custodian of the Tata group, Chief Ethics Officer of the group, Chair of the Tata Global Sustainability Council, and Member of the Group Executive Council at Tata Sons Limited. Dr Rajan serves as the Chairperson of the Environment Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). In 2007, the World Economic honoured Dr. Rajan as a Young Global Leader. His second book, ‘The Brand Custodian’, was published by HarperCollins in 2019.
Anil Padmanabhan
Mr Anil Padmanabhan, a journalist for 34 years, is a Neiman fellow from Harvard University. He has worked in leadership roles at leading media houses such as Business Standard, Mint, and India Today, where he was the chief of bureau in New York. Since 2020, he moved into the gig economy, and works with media entities and global corporate giants to customise content and address/moderate events, and has continued to contribute to publications such as The Economic Times, Money Control, Khaleej Times, NDTV, Russia Today and Open magazine.
Sushil Jiwarajka
Mr Sushil Jiwarajka, a prominent industrialist, is the Chairman of Artheon Group of Companies with interests in Telecom, Renewable energy, industrial batteries and E-commerce. He is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Essjay Ericsson Pvt. Ltd, a Joint Venture with LM Ericsson of Sweden. He has promoted OMC Power Company Pvt. Ltd., which has been providing clean Power using Renewable Energy for telecom sites and rural communities, and has won numerous awards for its community efforts. He was awarded the title of Global Tech Pioneer by the World Economic Forum in 2014 and won The Economic Times Telecom Award, by the eponymous Indian publication house, in 2015.
Commenting on the stellar line up for the event, Convenor of the India Africa Entrepreneurship Forum, Baljinder Sharma, notes,
“We are thrilled to have secured such eminent personalities to address the audience at the fourth edition of the India-Africa Entrepreneurship & Investment Summit in Mauritius. It is our belief that when you put a bunch of motivated, smart individuals in a room – magic happens, innovation flowers and creativity blooms. The insights of our speakers – who hail from arenas as diverse as politics, banking, sustainability, journalism and entrepreneurship – will surely go a long way in inspiring the audience to think differently and make magic happen for Indian-African economic and industrial relations.”
