Top level companies CEOs from Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi and Kenya have confirmed attendance for the fifth edition of East African Business Summit. The summit which will focus on issues of innovation will be held from the 17th to 20th of November at the Fairmont Mt. Kenya Safari Club.Citi Group, Deloitte, KPMG, Nation Media Group, PWC and TPS Eastern Africa Limited (Serena Hotels) are the co-conveyors of this summit.

The summit brings together the region’s best minds – thought leaders around the world to discuss matters of innovation, as a catalyst for accelerated growth in East Africa. “Our involvement is aimed at harnessing business opportunities in new regions like Ethiopia,” says Kuria Muchiru, country senior partner,KPMG.

East African Business Summit was started in 2002 and the members had a goal of positioning East Africa as an investment destination by the year 2012. This year’s forum seeks to review this goal, and how far key public and private opinion shapers have worked towards influencing this before 2012.

“This year, the summit will explore ways to navigate the numerous emerging opportunities in Africa. In particular, we are hoping to understand how CEOs’ decisions about strategies and operating models shape changes in the business landscape,” says Josephat Mwaura, CEO and Senior Partner KPMG East Africa.

Previous meetings have been successful; they have added value to businesses for example advised them to invest more in branding e.g. those in the tea industry and successful influenced the private sector to invest in undersea cables i.e. the emergency TEAMS.

“The forum fosters business leaders towards one commonality to make better business access to East Africa”, said Daniel Connelly, CEO Citigroup Kenya. The summit creates a platform to pull business ideas and turn East Africa into an economic power house.