Press Release

Mansour Group Chairman Mohamed Mansour delivers keynote speech on ‘The Africa Opportunity’ at 12th Arabian Business Forum in Dubai

November 10, 2015

Mohamed Mansour, Chairman of the Mansour Group, a global family business with $6 billion in revenue and with a presence in 120 countries, was a keynote speaker at the 12th Arabian Business Forum in Dubai. The forum attracts some of the most successful business leaders and policymakers in the region.

The forum brought together leading executives from the Middle East to discuss the opportunities and risks for Africa, including speakers such as Etisalat CEO Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, Stallion Group founder Sunil Vaswani.

Founded in the 1950s, the Mansour Group is one of the largest private sector conglomerates in the Middle East and Africa. Mansour partners with top Fortune 500 companies and global brands around the world and has strategic long-term alliances with General Motors, Caterpillar, McDonalds, UPS and Imperial Tobacco. The group is present in 7 sub-Saharan African countries: Nigeria, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Tanzania and Ivory Coast.

Mr. Mansour’s keynote speech covered the history and background of the group’s presence in Africa, lessons learned from decades of experience investing in the region. The speech gave an account of how the group generated profitability in the region despite a number of challenges and why Arab businesses ought to play a larger role in the region. The speech was followed by a panel discussion which concluded by urging Africa to focus on increasing its manufacturing sector, capitalising on the growing middle class and also continuing with the cracking down on corruption.

Mr Mansour said: “I was delighted to share our insights on investing in Africa. We have been strong believers in Africa’s investment potential ever since we took over Unilever’s Caterpillar’s operations in 1996, while being cognisant of the risks and challenges in doing so. This important event allowed investors and policymakers to discuss the increasingly important role we can all play in the continent’s future, and provided a balanced and constructive exchange of ideas.”

About the Arabian Business Forum
The 12th Arabian Business Forum took place at the JW Marriott Marquis Hotel in Dubai on November 10.

Arabian Business is the Middle East’s premier business news portal. The magazine has a dedicated team of more than 100 journalists providing daily coverage to the region.

About the Mansour Group
The Mansour Group is a global, family-run business, with $6bn of revenue. We operate in sectors ranging from automotive and machinery to food and beverage, to logistics, education and real estate. Trust and honesty are the foundations of our long-standing partnerships with global multinational firms. We have a presence in over 100 countries and 60,000 employees. As a privately-run business, our investment strategy and culture is characterised by our long-term approach and social commitment to the communities in the regions we operate in.

Contacts
Kenzie Falcoz
Mansour Group
KFalcoz@mancapllp.com
02078387331

Jais Mehaji
Maitland
jmehaji@maitland.co.uk
02073795151