Brace Yourself!  Africa is Coming!

This event is co-sponsored by

Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation

Speaker:  Richard Zurba, Director of Zurcom International

Africa stands to be a social and  economic dynamo in the coming decades.  Sub-Saharan Africa is the only global region destined to grow exponentially in population: from about 1 billion now to 2.5 billion by 2050.  With that, the GDP per capita is rising quickly at the same time, creating a confluence that will likely make Africa an economic powerhouse in our lifetime.  Underneath the statistics is human behaviour.  What are the forces behind this expected growth?  Richard Zurba will be discussing  the growth in Africa with some thoughts on the African youth culture – which will be the driving entrepreneurial business culture propelling Africa through this century.  Come with some of your own thoughts and expect a lively discussion about this exciting emerging market.

Richard Zurba, Director of Zurcom International, has over two decades of personal experience in trade and export business development in emerging markets. Richard came to Africa in 1993 first in the D.R. Congo for World Vision Relief, involved in humanitarian work ethnic cleansing and the Ebola outbreak responses.  In 1996 he moved to South Africa, as an export manager for a South African firm, selling across sub-Saharan Africa.  In January 1999, he opened the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers Africa Trade Office on behalf of four US states including Wisconsin. He serves as the Coordinator of IBG Global, a partnership of 21 firms with staff in 50 countries bettering export promotion for companies around the world. He frequently lectures and has served as a dissertation supervisor for an MBA program.  Since 1999, Zurcom has completed over 3,000 projects for firms entering the African markets Zurcom currently represents six US states for trade in sub-Saharan Africa: Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Virginia and Wisconsin. Other important clients include South African provinces, the national governments of India, Netherlands, Germany, Singapore and Thailand as well as commercial firms.  BA (University of Alberta); MA (London School of Economics); MBA (Western Ontario).