Sunil Mittal to co-chair WEF on Africa 2014

Sunil Bharti Mittal, founder and chairman, Bharti Enterprises, will co-chair this year's gathering of the World Economic Forum on Africa.

World Economic Forum on Africa is the continent's marquee event and is attended by top business and government leaders from across the world.

Bharti Enterprises is a leading business group with interests in telecommunications, retail, agri business and financial services.

Bharti Airtel, the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises and the world's fourth largest mobile operator, is the largest mobile operator in Africa in terms of geographical footprint.

The company provides mobile services in 17 countries across Africa with close to 70 million customers.

The event, which is being held in Abuja (Nigeria) from 7-9 May, 2014 under the theme :Forging Inclusive Growth, Creating Jobs", will be attended by over 900 leaders from business, government, civil society and academia.

World Economic Forum is being organised against a backdrop of significant economic growth, progress in reducing poverty in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, but also persistent inequality.

This year's programme is built on three pillars: Accelerating Society's Transformation; Deepening Investment Partnerships; and Redesigning Growth Models.

Sunil Bharti Mittal was also appointed as the co-chair of India-Africa Business Council (IABC) by the Prime Minister of India.

IABC has been formed with an aim to provide an institutional platform to strengthen economic ties between business communities of Indian and the African continent.