Bharti Enterprises founder and chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal will co-chair this year’s edition of the World Economic Forum on Africa.

Bharti Enterprises is one of India’s leading business groups with interests in telecom, retail, agri business and financial services. Bharti Airtel, the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises and the world’s fourth largest mobile operator, is the largest mobile operator in Africa in terms of geographical footprint.

Airtel provides mobile services in 17 countries across Africa with close to 70 million customers.

The event, which is being held in Abuja (Nigeria) from May 7-9, 2014, under the theme Forging Inclusive Growth, Creating Jobs, will be attended by over 900 leaders from business, government, civil society and academia.

The event is being organised against a backdrop of significant economic growth, progress in reducing poverty in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, but also persistent inequality.

Mittal was also appointed as the co-chair of India-Africa Business Council (IABC) by the Prime Minister of India. IABC has been formed with an aim to provide an institutional platform to strengthen economic ties between business communities of Indian and the African continent.

rajesh.kurup@thehindu.co.in

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