The annual Ghana Economic Outlook and Business Strategy Conference (EOBS) has been confirmed to be taking place again this year, in Accra.

The 2017 edition of the event, which is in its 5th year with a growing international audience, comes under the theme “Unlocking Ghana's Economic Potential with Mobile Money and Payment System”. The event is organized by Africa Business Media (ABM), in conjunction with Ghana Business & Finance magazine (GB&F).

The conference, which will be a full day event, will take place at Tang Palace Hotel, Roman Ridge, Accra on 22nd March, 2017.

This year’s EOBS conference will have the Vice-President, His Excellency Dr Mahamudu Bawumia as the Keynote Speaker, who will speak on how mobile money and payment systems will contribute towards financial inclusion and economic growth.

“The conference, which is now a highly anticipated event across the world, as usual, presents purposeful and poignant dialogue and resolutions, on issues that enhance the performance and growth of a particular sector under focus,” Martin Luther-King, the General Manager of ABM said.

He said that this year’s focus is on the management and ultimate unimpeded success of Ghana’s Mobile Money and Payment Systems which is a fast growing system of payment globally. “We thought we should provide the right platform to our domestic business environment to give the subject the attention it deserves now, so that, as a developing nation, Ghana would not be left behind in the on-going global transition to cashless transactions.”

The banking, financial and telecommunication sectors, and other related stakeholders, are fully involved; crowned with the expected presence of the High level governmental officials, the Central Bank, the Ministry of Finance, mobile telecom operators, banks, insurance companies, and others.

The EOBS series, since its inception in 2012, has been attracting heavy weight sector specific sponsors and this year has not been different.

“Indeed, it is very characteristic of EOBS to hold out justifiable attraction to Ghana’s distinguished corporate organizations because of the relevance of the issues it brings to the table, and the fact that it is essentially designed to involve those who fashion policies that shape Ghana’s economy and the business environment,” Josiah Spio-Garbrah, who is the Business Development Manager for the organizing company, ABM, explained. “So, in a nutshell, it is a forum for the government and the business community to sit down and jaw-jaw on what’s the best way to grow the private sector as partners.”

Eminent speakers at previous EOBS series include representatives from the Presidency, the Republic of Ghana; Ministers of State; Director-Generals and heads of State institutions; CEOs’ and captains of industry; heads of bilateral and multilateral support agencies, foreign and local investors, leaders of civil society organizations, heads of the diplomatic corps and foreign missions, media managers and other major stakeholders in the economy.

The previous conference recorded the attendance of over 275 delegates from 17 countries across 5 regions outside Ghana. So, EOBS 2017 is a highly anticipated gathering for many business leaders, policy makers and investors.

Already organizations and institutions like the Securities and Exchange Commission, Association of Ghana Industries, Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications, Margins Group, DDP Advertising, are some of the companies that have confirmed their partnership and sponsorship respectively. Talks with the usual government and institutional partners are being firmed up.

Africa Business Media (ABM), publisher of Ghana Business & Finance (GB&F) magazine, has been in existence for over three years. ABM and its principal product, GB&F, have made significant impact on the Ghanaian economic and business environment, being the only regular high-end monthly business magazine. In addition to the magazine, ABM has also diversified into the publication of specialized directories and reports as well as events management.

The Ghana Economic Outlook and Business Strategy Conference (EOBS) is in its fifth year (2017), and awareness, interest and support for it, domestically and internationally, is growing. ABM’s first non-news publication, the Ghana Directory of Scholarships and Financial Assistance (GDSFA) occupies its own unique niche, as it has no competitors for the information it providess.