US firms in Africa set to be honoured

THE University of the Witwatersrand’s African Centre for the Study of the United States (ACSUS) is set to honour United States (US) companies that are operating businesses in Africa.
The inaugural US Business in Africa Awards (USBAA) will be held on October 28 at Hilton Hotel, Johannesburg, South Africa.
According to ACSUS deputy director Bob Wekesa, the initiative will “encourage and sustain a culture of responsible and good corporate citizenship by US corporates and entrepreneurs in Africa”.

The awards ceremony will be followed by a conference on October 29 to share knowledge on lessons learnt from the winning businesses.
“This will build a library of case studies of US businesses doing business in Africa to inform academic and intellectual programmes,” Wekesa said.

He also said the awards will recognise large, medium and small American businesses in all sectors which have demonstrated good corporate citizenship in Africa.
Wekesa further said that the initiative had attracted interest from various entities, which include the US Foreign Commercial Service for Africa, US Embassy in South Africa, US Chamber of Commerce, Corporate Council on Africa and the American Chambers of Commerce in Africa.

According to Wekesa, Wits Business School, Wits School of Economics and Finance, the William Davidson Institute based at the University of Michigan, the Good Governance Africa, the Economic Club of Africa in New York, the Centre on African Philanthropy and Social Investment, the Africa Business Group, the William and Flora Hewllet Foundation, the Lagos Business School, the School of Economics and Finance, and the Strathmore University Business School, had partnered with ACSUS to contribute to the success of the awards.

He urged American businesses operating in Zimbabwe to take part in the awards.
“The awards are an opportunity for American companies in Zimbabwe to show that in spite of the country’s look east policy, American presence in the country was still strong,” Wekesa said.

This comes as the US embassy in Harare hosted a first ever official trade mission to Zimbabwe in May last year.
The trade mission brought together US and Zimbabwean companies, with the aim of supporting US businesses in the country.
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