The 2014 GGI World Conference took place in Cape Town, South Africa, between 16 and 19 October at the Westin Cape Town Hotel, hosted by the two local member firms Nolands SA and Heyns and Partners Inc and attended by some 190 delegates from GGI member firms from around the world. The event was preceded by the first Middle-East African (MEA) Regional Conference, held from 15 to 16 October and attended by some 40 delegates, who took this opportunity to meet other GGI members from the same region. The event started on Wednesday evening with a welcome cocktail on the top floor of the hotel, which offered a stunning view of the city skyline and the natural landscape, including Table Mountain and Lion’s Head.
On Thursday morning, the General Consul of Switzerland, Bernadette Hunkeler Brown, officially opened the Conference, illustrating economic figures that revealed the commercial relation between Switzerland and South Africa as well as the differences between the two countries. Following this first high quality contribution, GGI’s President and host firm representatives warmly welcomed all participants, before a speed networking session got underway led by the GGI Regional CEO, Peter Kaeser. All attendees had the valuable opportunity to get to know each other better and exchange important information about their firms, key competences and industrial sectors in which they are working. After a coffee break, the keynote speaker His Excellency Ambassador Chirau Ali Mwakwere captivated the audience as he explained the dynamics in the oil trade occasioned by recent oil discoveries in Africa.
Ambassador Mwakwere’s experience and knowledge of the African market is very well known. As discussed during his contribution, there has been a rapid increase in discoveries of oil in Africa over the past decade and all indications point to Africa having a wealth of oil reserves with there being a high likelihood that further discoveries will be made. Several factors will determine the impact of these discoveries on the international oil trade and on the geopolitical and economic landscape, including the development of African production capacity over the next two decades, oil discoveries and production elsewhere in the world, the growing importance of carbon emissions, new energy generation technologies and governance in African oil-producing countries. Given the right governance environment, he stated that discoveries have the potential to create a sizeable middle class in Africa, which will drive economic growth and stimulate investment in various sectors of the African economy. New oil discoveries and increased oil production in Africa are likely to position the continent as a stronger player, both geopolitically and economically, and they also have the potential to have an impact on aggregate supply and the price of oil internationally, which could affect OPEC’s influence on the international oil trade.
Ambassador Mwakwere’s contribution left the audience with valuable insights on the African market and was followed by the MEA Regional report delivered by Peter Kaeser, GGI Regional CEO Middle-East Africa/Asia-Pacific. Mr Kaeser illustrated the development of the MEA region over the last year, listing the new members who joined GGI as well as potential countries into which it will expand in the immediate future. His presentation also included a contribution delivered by Adebimpe A. Balogun from GGI member firm Saffron Professional Services (Ikoyi, Lagos), who explained the details of a success story regarding a withholding tax credit claim which resulted in an extremely profitable outcome for both the client and the firm. Peter Kaeser’s presentation ended with an overview of the regional upcoming conferences and the advice of keeping collaborating and networking with other GGI members. As closure of the morning session, Graham Busch from Lawrence Grant Chartered Accountants (London, UK) introduced the International Taxation Practice Group.
The afternoon session continued with two workshops: the first led by Walter Geach (University of the Western Cape) addressed the topic of the relevance of trusts; the second, held by Peter Surtees, focused on doing business in South Africa. The International Taxation Practice Group led by the Global Chairperson, Oliver Biernat, held its meeting in a different room of the hotel at the same time. The successful Conference programme ended with a closing speech delivered by Peter Kaeser, preparing the delegates for the start of the 2014 World Conference later the same day.
The GGI World Conference began in the evening with a welcome cocktail, followed by a welcome dinner during which the new members and candidates of the alliance who were attending the event were officially introduced by Michael Reiss von Filski, GGI Global CEO. The dinner was also the occasion for an important award ceremony: Urban B. Eberle, CEO of Bank Alpinum, received the XLNC Award for his continuous support over the last ten years of sponsorship.
The Conference commenced on Friday morning with some words of welcome from His Excellency Christian Meuwly, Swiss Ambassador to South Africa. The morning session featured the contribution of two keynote speakers: Dr Clem Sunter and Ambassador Chirau Ali Mwakwere. Both had already been introduced in detail in the previous INSIDER issue.
As an expert in scenario planning, Dr Sunter addressed the audience with the following question: why should you think like a fox when you are planning your strategy? The answer is that foxes are constantly looking out at the environment around them for signs of change. When they spot a new opportunity or threat, it is the speed and quality of their response which allows them to survive and prosper. Likewise, a company may have a sound vision and mission statement, but it must have a radar system that picks up changes in the business environment. When warnings signs begin to show that the game is changing, a successful company will be ahead of its competitors in adapting its strategies and tactics to win the new game. For example, in the field of marketing and sales, constant monitoring of customers’ expectations and needs is required so that the product and service offering can be adjusted to maximise customer satisfaction. Dr Sunter explained that in the world at large there are six game-changing flags waving in the wind: religious rivalry, a return to a Cold War between America and Russia, climate change, ageing populations in developed economies, increasing inequality between the super-rich and the rest and the possibility of a global epidemic like Ebola. In South Africa, there are three signs to watch out for: the style of leadership, the treatment of the country’s pockets of excellence and the climate for a new generation of entrepreneurs. The points to take away from the lecture are: look out before you look in, adapt your sales strategy as the market changes and have the keen eyes and quick reactions of a bushy-tailed fox.
The second keynote speaker of the day was His Excellency Ambassador Chirau Ali Mwakwere, who talked about “Investment Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa”. He explained that governments in Sub-Saharan Africa are playing ever greater roles in shaping their economies by giving focused investment policy directions. Potentially rich with natural resources, Sub-Saharan Africa draws foreign direct investment (FDI) not only to its natural resources but also to its emerging and vibrant consumer markets. Mobilising investments and ensuring that it contributes to sustainable development is a priority for all countries of the world. While the projection of FDI outlook remains positive, Sub-Saharan Africa must address individual country and regional challenges which could lose the attraction for investors. Ambassador Mwakwere pointed out that governments in sub-Saharan Africa have programmes which variously and individually address challenges such as functional infrastructure, job creation, corruption, transparency and accountability, security of investment and more. He also explained that after seeing their countries still languish in poverty despite decades of natural resource flows out of the continent, governments are now actively making concerted efforts to ensure that local companies are gainfully involved in FDI ventures and that the notion of value addition to raw materials is being advanced to ensure more jobs are created for the potential upsurge in the young graduate population. A new generation of investment policies is therefore emerging as governments pursue a broader and more intricate development agenda while building or maintaining a generally favourable investment climate. Most governments in Sub-Saharan Africa are known to be encouraging the development of networks between small and medium enterprises capable of becoming part of a global supply chain, including participation in value addition. The promotion of responsible investment requires both the investor and the government to act in a responsible, transparent and objective manner. This is a sure way of solving investment challenges, some of which are known while others will emerge as policies change and evolve.
The last contribution for the Conference session was delivered by Michael Reiss von Filski, who described the developments that have occurred within the GGI alliance since the last World Conference in Cancun (2013), Mexico. This management report included an overview of the different GGI regions as well as a short speech delivered by Graeme Saggers (Nolands SA). As one of the five delegates selected to participate in the 2014 edition of the Global Village on the Move programme, which took place in Kazan (Russia), Graeme reported his experiences. He also invited GGI members to send applications for the 2015 edition, which will take place in Mumbai, India. As the Conference morning session came to an end, all the delegates enjoyed a lunch break before the two rounds of Practice Group meetings scheduled for the afternoon. The day’s programme ended with a casual dinner at the Shimmy Beach Club, where all the delegates delighted in the local food, the casual atmosphere and an entertaining show of local acrobatic dancers.
The Saturday programme featured four workshop meetings: Frank E.R. Diem held a workshop on the process of internationalising a practice – measures and activities that promise success; Ricky Wong discussed codes of ethics and professional judgement; Dr Laszlo Tunyogi focused his attention on the European scene and how it is currently possible to influence the European Union’s decision making process; and lastly, Michael Reiss von Filski led the “understanding GGI” workshop, compulsory for all candidates and new members. The afternoon session was dedicated to the optional tours of Seal Island and the city of Cape Town, including the magnificent Table Mountain.
As the perfect end to the event, the delegates attended a gala dinner at the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel, a luxury venue in the vibrant heart of Cape Town. During the dinner, three member firms were presented with the GGI XLNC award as member firm of the year: GT Fiduciaires (Luxembourg), VBIR (Israel) and McCabes (Australia). Find more information on the awards winners on page 18 f.. The event came to a successful end as all the delegates enjoyed themselves, also looking forward to the optional Sunday tour at the magnificent Cape Winelands of South Africa.
Turn to page 18 f. to read two personal Conference reports from our Lebanese GGI members.
GGI | Geneva Group International 