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Shift Media News 
By AWORI ESTHER LUCY
ABUJA, Nigeria-SHIFTMEDIA- It has been officially confirmed, Nigeria will host the “Focus Africa Science Innovation and Commodity Expo 2021”
The theme of the expo to be held at the Abuja International Conference Center between 2nd – 7th August 2021 is: ‘Science and Innovation as a panacea for rapid transformation of Africa’s Economy through Local Raw material processing’
Sucex Bright, the convener, and founder of Africa Youth Leadership and Economic Summit said they will utilize the platform to tell the authentic stories of the challenges and ultimate success stories of individuals and brands in Africa to millions of people across the continent.
“Our Vision, as The Focus Africa Series, is to build a common platform where people (African leaders, entrepreneurs, and brands ) can come together, share their success stories to inspire others,” said Sucex.
He noted that the mission of Focus Africa series is to tell the authentic stories of spectacular industry leaders and brands who are raising the bar and providing to the world.
Why the Expo?
The 2021 Expo slogan is: ‘TOGETHER, LET’S TURN THE SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICA’. Indeed, the time is to turn the lights on Africa.
Sucex said the issue of shallow financial markets often thwart Science inventions and innovation from responding to developmental needs.
“The growing technological divide between African innovators and those in the western world needs to be addressed,” he said in a statement.
He cited challenges such as poor financing for African Scientists and Innovators, the lack of collaboration and alliances between Scientists and innovators within each country and between countries as other challenges to be discussed during the weeklong expo.
Also on the agenda to be addressed are issues related to excessive price volatility, long-term declining price trends, as well as serious market access difficulties due to tariff and non-tariff barriers.
“There is the issue of lack of strong institutional capacity, poor infrastructure, high production leading to little or no value addition of the commodity,” he explained.
Sucex said that due to tariff escalations, commodity-dependent countries are exporting commodities that are either raw or at the lower end of the value chain.
WHY FASICE 2021?
The Expo is in response to the dire need to reverse the chronic dependence of African countries on the exportation of raw materials and the importation of processed products from the same raw materials that we exported from the continent.
The Expo is envisioned to provide a veritable platform to discuss the numerous challenges impeding the growth of Science, Technology, and Innovation in the continent
The expo will be a platform for connecting owners of patents/ideas to venture capitalists, as well as expanding the African Commodity market.
“The other objective will be to boost the capacity of companies in the commodity subsector to contribute to the Commodity value chain through industrialization,” said Sucex.
He said that issues to do with waste and leakage in the economy shall be tackled by sharing experience in the storage and preservation of perishable commodities.
“After the expo, we shall set up a framework for closer partnerships, collaborations of scientists, research institutions, universities, and innovators in the continent that will ensure a common pool of knowledge which will, in turn, assist in the industrialization of raw materials in the continent,” he said.
Targeted participants
- Government-owned Science, technology, and raw materials agencies from all the countries in Africa.
- Key players in the raw materials/commodity subsector.
- Equipment manufacturers
- Organized Private Sector
- Research Institutions.
- Financial institutions
- Youth-led Tech/Agriculture businesses.
