Lord Charles Falconer, Chair of the Board of Governors at Ravensbourne, has challenged UK businesses run by African and Caribbean entrepreneurs to break into the growing markets back home. Lord Falconer declared “the African diaspora community, which at the moment the UK is benefiting from so conspicuously in the medals table, should be encouraged to build their business relationships back home.”
Expo-nential growth
Speaking at the opening day of the African and Caribbean Business Expo with UK Secretary of State Vince Cable, he continued, “The diaspora community have the connections, the knowledge and the staying power to really make a difference in these emerging economies.” The Expo was the largest business-related event taking place during the London 2012 Olympic Games, and runs 6-9 August.
Nigeria partnership
Talking of a recent Ravensbourne partnership mission to Nigeria he said, “We went to Nigeria because we recognise that Africa is growing at an explosive rate – if we don’t try and set up partnerships there are plenty of other people and countries that will.”
Lord Falconer received a positive response from the assembled African entrepreneurs when he revealed to the audience that both his sons are currently working on projects in Africa – one in Sudan and one in Sierra Leone. He encouraged the current government to increase its support to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises diaspora businesses looking to break into Africa.
Ravensbourne, a higher education institution specialising in digital media and design courses, have a heavy focus on industry integration. The institution runs a business incubation unit for 500 small and medium-sized London businesses, allowing them access to state-of-the-art facilities for free.
Publish Date: 10 August, 2012 at 11:31 am
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