African Trade Symposium Planned

A major conference designed to increase trade between Florida and Africa will be conducted next week on the University of North Florida campus.

The conference will be Wednesday, May 21, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the UNF University Center. It is sponsored by the Florida West Africa Linkage Institute (FLAWI), a state organization led by three institutions, UNF, Florida Community College at Jacksonville and FAMU in Tallahassee.

The topic of this international trade event will be “Doing Business in Africa” and is designed to provide information on issues relating to trade with Africa. Invited speakers include ambassadors and officials from Senegal, Benin, Nigeria and Gambia as well as state and Jacksonville government leaders and representatives from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

FLAWI is organizing this event in partnership with Enterprise Florida Inc, the international trade arm for the State of Florida; Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, Center for African Studies at University of Florida, Constituency for Africa, a non-governmental organization in the United States and Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), the world’s leading free enterprise education organization operating on over 1400 university campuses in 35 countries including eight in Africa

FLAWI’s mission involves 16 West African countries. To learn more about FLAWI and its many initiatives, please access the FLAWI web site at www.unf.edu/dept/flawi or call Betty Flinchum (904) 620-1950.

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