Ex Police Chief Trumps Better Business for Africa
On a night when Storm Doris battered the nation leading to an anticipated £400 million pound cleanup bill, Manchester's business community forged closer ties with its ever growing African population.
The occasion was the launch of the Manchester Africa Business Network (MABN), an affiliate of the British African Business Alliance (BABA), which was hosted by The Chuck Gallery in Longsight, located at 166 Plymouth Grove. Established in 2009, BABA seeks to bring people together to share ideas and opportunities and galvanize business in the creation of widely-held wealth in Africa.
The evening was highlighted by keynote speeches from Sir Peter Fahy, the city's former Chief Constable, and now CEO of street children charity, Retrak, and BABA Chairman, David Smith. Thanks to Doris, the latter's two hour morning journey from London turned into a nine hour odyssey, but he arrived just in time to close a very productive meeting. Maybe Smith was just in tune with Manchester's mad-for-it moniker.
A full house of around 45 people attended the launch with individuals representing everything from shipping, power plants, investment banking, legal services, accounting, care homes and multi-media services. MABN management team members, Dennis Chisunka, Network Director, Dr. Robert Oenga, Deputy Director and Dr. Ernest Kadembo, Marketing Manager, were on hand to explain membership subscription and the various benefits that joining might accrue.
"It's so crucial for us to work together," said Fahy. "This city is an amazing example to the rest of the world because all sorts of people come from all sorts of backgrounds. Manchester is known for its universities and obviously its football clubs. Yes, there are some challenges, but overall we all get along. So, we are actually an incredible model for the rest of the world."
Smith echoed those sentiments. "It's about understanding the African culture and people living here," he noted. "It's about the potential in this room. We're looking to build trust, engagement and confidence and see how that can be transported."
Olu Alemoru is writer and journalist, who has worked in the UK and the U.S.
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