The 17th annual African Renaissance Festival takes place from 23-26 May 2015 at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli ICC, Durban. The African Renaissance Festival 2015 is an exciting and worthwhile opportunity to celebrate Africa's progress and the renewal of our continent. Over the years, the African Renaissance Festival has grown in stature and attracts the participation of delegates and senior media representatives from the African continent and beyond.
The esteemed festival has been privileged to have enjoyed the participation of all our democratic presidents, deputy presidents as well as leading representatives of government, business and civil society. This year is no exception as a number of high profile guests will be in attendance.
Mayor of eThekwini, James Nxumalo said, "We are excited to again host the African Renaissance Festival in Durban. The conference is central to enhancing the social economic growth of the people of the region." The conference is also in direct support of enhancing the goals of the annual Durban Business Fair. Over the years a variety of themes have been chosen as follows:
• 1999 beyond Conflict
• 2000 Beyond Conflict in the new Millennium
• 2001 Be the best we can be
• 2002 iBuya - Our Time has Come (turning to each other and not on each other)
• 2003 NEPAD: Quest for an African Renaissance 2004 Peace and Democracy
• 2005 iBuyilei Afrika: Reflecting on human rights triumphs
• 2006 African Renaissance and African Intellectuality
• 2007 Unpacking the African Century
• 2008 Uniting the African Diaspora
• 2009 Uniting the African World
• 2010 Take charge Africa - the future is in your hands
• 2011 Connecting Africa
• 2012 Connecting Africa
• 2013 Connecting Africa
• 2014 Africa in Motion
The focus of this year's conference programme is entrepreneur development, with some emphasis on the youth and skills development. The promotion of entrepreneurship and small business remains an important priority of the government of South Africa. Studies have shown that entrepreneur-led businesses will create more jobs than large corporations in the coming years. Our youth also have an important role in the economy as active job providers rather than seekers. Through their role as job providers, entrepreneurs are widely seen as solutions to our unemployment challenges. Fulfilling this role will result in the wider participation of the youth in the economy leading towards a more sustainable future in South Africa. The programme will also promote and maximise the opportunities for our youth that are available through obtaining college and university bursaries to international institutions. Premier Senzo Mchunu in launching the African Renaissance Festival 2015 emphasised that the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government is proud to be associated with the event. He added that it is essential to transform government policy and strategies into deliverables through the promotion of the entrepreneurship and small business. Conference sessions include an overview of government policy and provision for entrepreneurs and skills development in South Africa, entrepreneurial development at tertiary institutes, and inspiring presentations by a number of successful entrepreneurs.
A highlight of the programme will be a session on international exchange programmes. Prof Sihawukele Ngubane, Vice Chairperson of the African Renaissance Trust said, "Development of the youth as entrepreneurs plays an important part in Africa's future. The conference aims to give the delegates examples of business success to aspire to, as well as the resources to achieve similar success.


stephanie@superfecta.info
www.superfecta.co.za