UVA Darden Students Launch Inaugural Africa Week

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business‘ first-ever Africa Week brought in a diverse group of speakers to feature opportunities and challenges in the diverse continent.

Hosted by the Darden Africa Business Organization, Africa Week featured a keynote with former HSBC Africa CEO Andrew Dell, a special First Coffee and a variety of social events.

Africa Week’s final guest speaker was Carlo Matta, managing director of Optimum Asset Management. Matta shared his entrepreneurial journey to West Africa, where he developed high-value commercial properties in Ghana and Nigeria.

“One of the main takeaways I gleaned from Carlo’s presentation is that there are usually three ‘whys’, or reasons, behind every big decision,” Raoul said. “It is important to ask yourself ‘why’ again and again to get to the bottom and uncover your true motivations in making critical decisions. This is how you can test whether you are making a good decision.”

Other Africa Week events included First Coffee featuring coffees from Rwanda, Kenya and Ethiopia; an African wine and cuisine night featuring traditional Nigerian food and South African wines; a Black Panther screening event; and an African dance workshop on Friday afternoon to conclude the week’s events.

“I think Africa Week was a great success, particularly because this was the inaugural one,” said DABO member Asong Lekeaka (Class of 2019). “Our guest speakers were amazing and painted a picture of Africa that I felt was in line with my experience when I visit Cameroon. We discussed the challenges in Africa, but also the business opportunities that are present in those challenges. The theme woven throughout the events of the week was that there are vast opportunities in Africa and it is important that Africa remains on the radar of the Darden community.”

Read the full story on Darden’s Center for Global Initiatives’ blog.