Over the past 20 years, European, Asian and other large economies have established an increasingly heavy presence on the continent of Africa in all major sectors, including Agriculture, Technology and Infrastructure building. They succeeded in this by not only establishing strong partnerships with the African Government but also with the Africa's business community.

In 2000 President Clinton established the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to help close U.S. trade gaps with Africa. Although some level of success has been accomplished, trade experts, conclude that there is more room to grow. On the U.S. side there are several trade constraints, including lack of awareness, relevant business data, capacity misconceptions and an information gap. On the African side there is also a lack of information related to U.S. standards, available business partnerships and opportunities for African businesses.

The Trade with Africa Business Summit creates trade linkages by bringing together business leaders and their supporting service providers from Africa and U.S. to engage in dialogue that will catalyze economic growth for both regions.​

We believe that the missing link to increasing trade with Africa is bringing key business stakeholders and service providers together with an executable roadmap for a sustainable results drive dialogue. ​The benefits of this engagement are multi-fold; For the U.S. based business community it serves to showcase the vast opportunities in Africa while highlighting new regions for exports and imports under favorable trade policies,. It also provides the unique opportunity to discuss with high-level officials current concerns or impediments to doing business. For African Exporters, business leaders and Governments leaders, it will offer an opportunity to promote their country, help expand their offerings under Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to create jobs, and increase investment. For African businesses, it will also provide access to the largest importers, help prepare them to pitch their goods, and open a pipeline that can then be continued through sustainable business partnerships.