Corporate Council on Africa and the U.S. Mission to the African Union will host the U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment Forum on the sidelines of the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa on February 11-12, 2019. The Forum is designed to be a high-level event geared towards supporting private sector engagement on the AfCFTA and driving greater U.S.-Africa trade, investment, and business engagement.

The Forum – linked to the AU and the broader African continental and global trade agenda – will complement the AU Summit by engaging the private sector – both African and U.S. – and will fill an important void. Currently, the AU runs an African Continental Free Trade Business Forum for African companies, and the EU has held six EU-African Business Forums. Africa is an important economic partner of the United States, yet there is no continent-wide event with American businesses and the AU, despite the leading role that American companies play as major investors in Africa's fastest-growing economies and sectors

The Forum will:  

• Provide a platform for a public and private sector dialogue among U.S. and African government officials and private sector leaders
• Expand opportunities for partnerships between businesses from the United States and Africa through meeting facilitation
• Create an avenue for U.S. and African businesses to engage on and support the implementation of the AfCFTA 
• Explore the future of U.S.-Africa trade and investment relationship,the final years of AGOA, the implications of the new U.S.-Africa strategy and the potential impact of the proposed free trade agreements (FTAs).
• Support and facilitate CCA members' interests on the continent