African business leaders identify solutions to continent's problems

Some of the biggest African names in business and e-commerce, health care innovation, philanthropy and media gathered On Saturday, April 2, gathered under one roof to identify inward solutions to Africas problems.

The event, African Economic Forum (AEF) 2016, held at the Columbia University, New York, United States was themed: "A Continent Connecting: Solutions from Within."

The Global Marketing Director for the cross-border payments operator, Transfast, Jay Vix, who was on the panel of the Venture Capital in Africa, stressed the need for long-term investments in Africa's young population by companies and governments alike.

With the worldwide explosion of Nigeria's film industry, Nollywood and the like-never-before global influence and acceptance of Nigerian music and musicians, window of opportunities keeps widening for for local entertainers to showcase their talents to global-scale markets.

Drawing upon this potential, the AEF 2016 also put together the Art Panel, which featured some of Africa’s leading writers, producers and digital content developers - including Nigerian-American actor, Gbenga Akinnagbe, CEO of OkayAfrica, Abiola Oke, and multi-talented artists like Ekwa Msangi, and Lion Ayodel.

The African Economic Forum is an annual conference organized by Columbia University’s Young African MBAs.

As in the previous year, the 2016 AEF brought over 500 current and future business leaders to Columbia University, which further established the conference as the biggest Africa-focused event at the prestigious university.