PMI Africa Conference 2023 Holds in Nairobi
Mary Nnah
The 8th annual Project Management Institute Africa Conference will be hosted in Nairobi, Kenya, for the first time this year. The highly anticipated annual conference will take place at the Emara Ole Sereni Hotel from September 10th- 12th.
PMI is the leading professional organisation for project management and the authority for a growing global community of millions of project professionals and individuals who use project management skills. The PMI Africa Conference is the largest gathering of its kind on the continent. It is a platform to shine a light on Africa’s project economy, reflects on the community’s shared values, and champion the extraordinary work of the project professionals.
This year’s conference is based on the theme “Africa We Want: Together We Can” and will pursue the knowledge agenda by looking closely at the first decade of Agenda 2063 and the skills transformation needed to enhance project design and implementation.
Building on the success of the previous edition held in Nigeria, the conference will bring together decision-makers, thought leaders, academicians, changemakers and feature eminent national and international speakers. Over 50 speakers and 400 delegates from over 24 countries are expected to participate.
The conference will deliberate on skills transformation, youth empowerment, women in project management sustainability, and accelerating infrastructure development, many of which are central to the flagship projects. The conference has identified these domains as key to Africa’s economic growth.
Managing Director, PMI, sub-Saharan Africa, George Asamani, said, “Project management is crucial to one of the first and biggest flagship projects on the anvil, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as it can only succeed with adequate infrastructure.”
Asamani explained that it was widely accepted that project management is critical in ensuring projects achieve their strategic goals of supporting economic growth, generating jobs, and creating resilient infrastructure fit for purpose.
He noted therefore that, “The need for cooperative efforts between government, private sector, academia, practitioners and for purpose PMI, to work towards a better future has never been greater.”
“AfCFTA is designed to deepen integration, foster trade, and investment, enhance the mobility of capital and labour, and support industrialisation. The key to its success will be the timely execution of projects identified to invigorate growth, create jobs and address climate goals. If the bloc acts simultaneously, it will lift the regional economy”, he added.
President of the PMI Kenya Chapter, Jeane Mathenge, said, “The time could not be more fitting to host the PMI Africa Conference in Kenya. The country is experiencing exponential growth in the number of project professionals since 2020, which points to the growing demand for project management. The successful launch of Taifa 1 is a shining example of how projects in science and technology are contributing to our socioeconomic development and our standing globally.”
The conference, throughout its history, has presented a unique opportunity to explore how project management practices can help shape the future. The platform aims to create an enabling environment for participants from the project management sphere – project, program, and portfolio managers with similar career goals to share best practices, earn professional development units (PDUs), network, and explore new trends and innovations in the field.
The conference is open to a global audience keen to learn how African changemakers and project professionals are seizing this incredible growth opportunity.
