Swakopmund — Old Mutual Africa is hosting its 2010 Africa Operations Business Planning Conference.

The conference started in Swakopmund on Sunday.

Participants are drawn from businesses' top leadership in African countries in which the financial services provider operates, namely Malawi, Namibia, Kenya, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. The aim of the conference is to formulate and review the company's strategy for the next three years, with the aim to meet its target of contributing 15 percent of Old Mutual South Africa's earnings by 2015.

Delegates also aim at coming up with a strategy for the company in Africa for the next three years in terms of new services and products for customers as well as shareholders' value.

Johannes !Gawaxab, Managing Director of Old Mutual Africa Operations, said his company envisages a positive future for Africa, adding that prospects for Africa have never looked better than they do at present. "Telecommunications, banking and the retail sectors are thriving, construction is booming and infrastructure investment continues to surge," he added.

According to him, the economic growth that is being realised all over Africa means that there will be a greater demand for Old Mutual products and services over the coming years. The conference gives a platform to the leadership of Old Mutual Africa to position each country's business to be ready for the growing demand and thereby contribute to long-term sustainable economic growth on the continent. !Gawaxab's position on the continent's outlook is affirmed by Africa's average GDP growth of 4.9 percent over the past nine years.

He attributed the positive outlook to decreasing income inequality and recent growth acceleration due to improved governance and macro-economic conditions, as well as micro-economic reforms that have been taking place all over the continent.

"Africa must remain an attractive investment destination for local and global investment capital and there are four pillars that we should focus on leveraging to ensure this and further improve Africa's competitiveness - our people, our infrastructure, leadership, public-private partnerships and access to capital," he said.

The conference ends today.