Opportunities for Investment in Africa

Join ASP on October 2nd for a half-day event bringing together experts from the public and private sector, as well as policy makers and members of the media to discuss the mutually beneficial impacts of US private investment on the African continent, opportunities for practical investment, and how to effectively manage the accompanying risk.

Our second panel, Opportunities for Investment in Africa, will take place from 2:00pm to 3:00pm. The panel will discuss investment opportunities across sectors and regions in Africa with a focus on energy, petrochemicals, and telecommunications. The focus will be on key geographic opportunities, potential ROIs, and how the US government and individual embassies can support US private investment in Africa.

Panel Chair: Mr. Peter Choharis, Choharis Global Solutions

Peter Choharis has nearly twenty years of litigation experience, throughout the United States and in numerous disputes in Asia, Africa, and Central America.  He is the founder of Choharis Global Solutions—affiliated law and consulting firms that assist U.S. and foreign companies and governments on investment, dispute resolution, and compliance issues. Peter is a frequent speaker on international law and foreign affairs.  He has also published more than two dozen articles on foreign policy and international law in scholarly journals as well as in The New York Times (Global) /International Herald Tribune, The National Interest, The Washington Post’s Outlook section (including the lead article), The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, Parameters, and for National Public Radio.

Panelists:

Mr. Patrice Backer, COO – AFIG Fund

Patrice Backer is the Chief Operating Officer of AFIG Fund, a fund management company focusing on private equity in Africa. Prior to AFIG Funds, Mr. Backer was the Managing Director of PromoCapital Haiti S.A., a transnational investment firm with offices in Haiti and the U.S. Mr. Backer led a number of investment banking transactions in telecom, textile manufacturing and energy. Mr. Backer also provided advisory services to local financial institutions and health care concerns. He started his career at JP Morgan in the Latin America Mergers & Acquisitions Group in 1993. He holds an M.B.A. degree from the Wharton School of Business, an M.A. in International Affairs from the University of Pennsylvania’s Lauder Institute, and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Sciences from Harvard College. 

Mr. Jake Cusack, Managing Partner – Crossboundary

Jake Cusack has a joint Masters in Public Policy and Masters in Business Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s Honors Program. He served as a Marine Corps officer and his military decorations include the Bronze Star, Navy Commendation Medal, and Combat Action Ribbon. Mr. Cusack has worked as a geopolitical analyst for the US government and at Abraaj Capital, a leading emerging market private equity fund. He is on the board of the Harvard Leadership Institute, has written for the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and Forbes, was a contributing author to Passion & Purpose from Harvard Business Press and published research on frontier markets with the Center for a New American Security and Kauffman Foundation. He has spoken at the Council on Foreign Relations, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Center for Public Leadership, the US Senate Foreign Relations and Appropriations Committees, and appeared on NPR, in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Ms. Carolyn Campbell, Managing Partner – EPC

Carolyn Campbell is a Managing Director, Founding Partner and General Counsel of Emerging Capital Partners (ECP). Ms Campbell is a member of ECP’s executive committee and investment committees. With seven funds and over $2 billion under management, ECP is one of the leading private equity managers focused on Africa.  ECP has seven offices across Africa and over a decade of investing experience in 55 investments operating in over 45 countries on the continent. Ms. Campbell provides management oversight of the firm’s operations and investments.

Prior to joining the ECP team in 2000, Ms. Campbell was a Senior Associate at White & Case LLP in the firm’s Warsaw, London, and Washington, D.C. offices. She was also an Associate Professor at George Washington University National Law Center, lecturing on international negotiations.

Ms. Campbell is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor’s in Economics and French and a masters in Economics. She received her J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School and a PhD from Oxford University in Politics.  She has served on the boards of Finagestion (France), Salt Investment S.A. (Djibouti), Wananchi Group Holdings, and Société Générale Assurance Méditerranéenne (Algeria) as well as on the Board of Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) and on the Legal and Regulatory Councils of EMPEA and AVCA.

Mr. Fadi Elsalameen, Principal – YCF Group

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