The First International Gateway to Africa Conference in Geneva: Africa's Challenges Today and Tomorrow

Gateway to Africa is the first annual, international conference which will tackle pressing issues that Africa faces today through an integrative and multidimensional approach. It will bring together leaders of Africa with prominent featured speakers such as Mr. Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2007-2010); former Vice President, USA, Mr. Al Gore; Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder of The Green Belt Movement, Dr. Wangari Maathai; and Mr. Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations. The conference will take place in Geneva from April 4-6, 2011.

GENEVA, March 10, 2011 - The complexity of the challenges Africa faces today demands an
integrative approach to finding feasible solutions. Whereas many conferences
focusing on Africa are one-dimensional and revolve around recurring themes,
the aim of Gateway to Africa is to invoke a panoramic discourse that will
deal with the most vital issues in Africa today - health, education, energy,
politics, and Africa's standing in the international arena - tackling these
topics from an interdisciplinary approach.

Featured speakers and African panelists to provide multidimensional
approach to Africa today

Mr. Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland (2007-2010), will open the conference with his insight on overcoming
the financial crash and dealing with critical areas of development in an era
of globalization. The subsequent session on environment will host former Vice
President, USA, Mr. Al Gore, who will share his knowledge in a presentation
entitled "Thinking Green", followed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder
of The Green Belt Movement, Dr. Wangari Maathai, who will speak about the
critical link between environment, democracy and peace.

The conference will address the urgent health issues that Africa faces
today, with an extensive health panel led by international experts. Mr. Kofi
Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, will then give his
perspective on democratic transformation and governance and the role citizens
can take in empowering themselves, along with the future challenges in
Africa.

The closing session of Gateway to Africa will bring together experts in
diplomacy and international terror, including Prof. Shlomo Ben Ami, former
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel, who will address the conference on
containing conflict and the limitations of diplomacy.

Throughout the conference, panels of African experts will openly discuss
these significant issues, contributing to a multidimensional and
interdisciplinary dialogue on Africa today.

For more information and registration to the conference, visit
www.gateway2africa.org.

About Gateway to Africa

Gateway to Africa, hosted by Comtec Convention and Special Events, is the
international and interdisciplinary conference on Africa's role in a
globalized world. Its first edition will take place in Geneva,
InterContinental Hotel, April 4-6, 2011.

For further information, visit: www.gateway2africa.org.

    Press Contact:
    Fabian Gmuender
    Young & Rubicam Brands Geneva
    Tel: +41-22-908-4074
    Email: Fabian.gmuender@yrbrands.com

Press Contact: Fabian Gmuender, Young & Rubicam Brands Geneva, Tel: +41-22-908-4074, Email: Fabian.gmuender at yrbrands.com