President Sirleaf Joins Several Colleagues at the CEO Investment Summit in New York

Embassy of the Republic of Liberia in the United States , Mon, Sep 28, 2015

(NEW YORK, U.S.A. – Thursday, September 24, 2015) On the margins of the 70th United Nations General Assembly, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf joined several of her African colleagues to participate in the CEO Investment Summit and Investment & Business Leader Award 2015 in New York, U.S.A.
The Africa investor (Ai) CEO Investment Summit, held in association with the World Bank Group and the United Nations, is an annual CEO business and government leadership forum, designed to facilitate action, to highlight and enhance the continent’s investment climate, and shed light on Africa’s investment success stories. The Summit outcomes will be taken forward at the Ai-AU-NEPAD Heads of State Investment Summit in January 2016.
This year’s Summit, held at the Thomas Reuters Hall on Broadway, provided for African Heads of State and Government an Investment Working Lunch attended by key leaders including President Sirleaf. It was held under several themes including: Business UN – World Bank Partnerships, Regional Economic Integration, Capital Markets and Private Equity, Agribusiness Investments Roundtable, Financing African Development, Growing Africa’s Business, and Ai Investment & Business Leader Award.
According to a dispatch from New York, President Sirleaf, who made special remarks, called on western investors to make use of the investment opportunities that exist on the African continent to ensure its transformation and the advancement of the living standards of the people of Africa. 
She stressed that Africa is still challenged with advancing the transformation of the continent and its peoples due to the profound infrastructural deficit that exists, particularly in West Africa. “Transformation is still lacking in Africa because its infrastructural development is limited. We must fix our infrastructural problems to be able to transform the continent,” she stressed, adding that this is the reason why the Agenda 2063 program of the African Union reflects and focuses on infrastructural development as a key factor for advancing development on the continent.
The Liberian leader indicated that opening up the African markets, the borders and ensuring comparative advantage will help promote the transformation of the African continent. She noted that diversity in investment is sought with public/private partnership as a key element. President Sirleaf stressed that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) makes poverty eradication its core objective which is good for Africa and its peoples.
She used the occasion to give an historical reflection of the process leading to the formulation of the new SDGs which will be adopted by member-countries of the United Nations shortly. 
President Sirleaf told the participants that the process leading to the formulation of the new goals was very extensive with private sector involvement especially Africa being keen on the world giving back to the continent with emphasis on mutual responsibility. The SDGs, she said, are different from the outgoing Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) because they are inclusive and account for growing African economies.
On Liberia specifically, she highlighted the country’s endowed natural resources, but pointed out that infrastructure, most especially, roads, power, ports, among others remain the major impediments that must be prioritized by those seeking to invest in the country.
Also delivering separate remarks at the Summit were the Presidents of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni; Malawi, Arthur Peter Mutharika; Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika; and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Haile Mariam Desalegne, among others. They pleaded with the world to invest in Africa with a key interest in giving back to the continent and with mutual responsibility as a major pillar. 
They noted that investing in Africa will enable the continent to make progress with regards poverty eradication and suggested that agriculture, processing, industrialization, services, information, telecommunication and communication (ITC) and infrastructure are important for transformation and poverty eradication in Africa and the world at large. Place Cursor over photo for description.
Mr. Jerolinmek Matthew PiahPresidential Press Secretary/Office of the President Department of Public Affairs Republic of Liberia email: jpiah@emansion.gov.lr/jeromapiah@yahoo.comweb: www.emansion.gov.l

l-r) Executive Director -UN Office for Partnerships, Amir Dossal, President Sirleaf and Ethiopian Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegne at the CEO Investment Summit in New York

 (l-r) Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Executive Director -UN Office for Partnerships, Amir Dossal, and President Sirleaf at the CEO Investment Summit in New York (1)

Cross-section of the invited guests at the CEO Investment Summit in New York

President Sirleaf shares the platform with other African Heads of State and heads of international and private business institutions at the Summit