‘Growing SMEs' is an Investment Market Place offering a unique opportunity to 75 entrepreneurs from developing countries to meet and pitch their business plans to 100+ investors interested in financing companies in emerging markets.

Participate in the unique Investment Market Place "Growing SMEs: It's time to invest! which will take place in The Hague coming June 2, 2010. Some 75+ SME entrepreneurs from all parts of the globe will pitch their companies to one of the largest groups of SME-focused institutional and angel investors ever to converge.

The objectives of "Growing SMEs: It's time to invest!" are to match entrepreneurs and financers, mobilize capital, and showcase an emerging asset class for investors. The ultimate result sought is to improve incomes and economic stability in the developing world. For a detailed programme of events, please click here.

"Growing SMEs; It's time to invest", is expected to bring together more than 800 attendants, among which specialists and practitioners active in the SME Finance sector, as well as 75+ entrepreneurs and 100+ investors.

The objectives of "Growing SMEs: It's time to invest!" Market Place are to match entrepreneurs and financers, mobilize capital, and showcase an emerging asset class for investors. The ultimate result sought is to improve incomes and economic stability in the developing world. For a detailed programme of events, please click here.

"Growing SMEs; It's time to invest", is expected to bring together more than 800 attendants, among which specialists and practitioners active in the SME Finance sector, as well as 75+ entrepreneurs and 100+ investors.

In order to ensure the event is a success and all potential investors are involved, we rely on all available networks to bring the right people together.

www.bidnetwork.org E: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it T: +31 20 7555 010 F: +31 84 83 000 22

Global Pacific & Partners will host its 2nd Western Africa Energy 2010 Conference, over 2nd – 4th June 2010 at the La Palm Royal Hotel, Accra, Ghana, bringing together key Super-Majors, Independents, Government and National Oil Company and Energy Sector senior executives to interface, network and negotiate deals.

It showcases the regional oil/gas and energy game in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire, DRC Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome & Principe, Togo, and focuses on the corporate players (private and state entities) that are shaping the fast-moving dynamics one of the Continent's rapidly growing energy markets - upstream, midstream, downstream, and in gas/power, as well as in renewables and biofuels.

Themes covered include: Government policies, state interventions in the oil/energy market, state oil/energy companies, private energy investments and interests, corporate portfolio and strategies, new entrants, competition and regulation, inter-fuel issues, product pricing, taxation and the financing of non-hydrocarbon ventures, plus critical issues impacting the Western African Energy future.

www.petro21.com/events/?id=505&CFID=1550535&CFTOKEN=16419497

Due to an overwhelming response to the highly successful workshop held on 17th and 18th March 2010 in Johannesburg, the IPM together with Deloitte will be hosting a 2 day highly practical HR Business Partner Master Class again in June 2010.

This programme is targeted at seasoned HR practitioners and will provide practical insights, models and tools based on Deloitte's global methods and tools applied to practical South African examples. The session will be very interactive and will encourage best practice sharing between participants. In the 2 days you will gain insight into positioning HR effectively with line executives, aligning your HR strategy with business strategy and effectively engaging stakeholders around the strategy and its execution as well as best in class HR strategy tools and templates and best practices and lessons learnt around the high impact Human Capital processes; performance management, talent management and reward.

You will leave the session with a strong sense of what business expects of HR and tools to effectively position HR and develop effective strategies, frameworks and practices to deliver on this expectation. The session will be led by Gillian Hofmeyr, Gareth Evans and Sandra van Wyk.

Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and request a registration form.

Film-makers & Guests Panel Discussion. "Hidden Herstories: Women of Change" is a youth-led heritage project which looks at 4 influential women who haven't had their rightful place in the history books. 20 young people from West London have set out to right this wrong; using their film-making and writing skills, they have made a one hour documentary and published a magazine. The film exposes the plights and determination of Octavia Hill, Amy Ashwood Garvey, Claudia Jones and Jayaben Desai.

"Hidden Herstories" is a community initiative funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Octavia Foundation. Free admission but booking is essential.

Tel: 020 7467 1220 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Website: www.tuc.org.uk/sertuc (online registration)

Noble Friends proudly present ANANSEKROM 2010, a Ghanaian cultural extravaganza, on Saturday, 17th July 2010 from 11am to 8pm at The Orsett Showground, Grays, Essex, RM16 3LB.

Events on the day will include: Durbar and Procession of Chiefs, Traditional Drumming and Dancing, Drum master class workshop, Story telling, Children's village, Face painting, Traditional Ghanaian games including Draft, Oware, Ampe and more, Acrobatic Display, Puppet show, Fair ground rides, Adult and Children's 5-A-Side football, as well as a cross section of the Black Stars Football team in attendance. Also live in concert will be Kojo Antwi.

For further information: http://www.noblefriends.org/events.html

Listen to leading artists discuss how their work has been influenced by African culture and how it engages with the traditions of African art history.

Panel speakers will include Raimi Gbadamosi, contemporary British conceptual artist, writer, and Honorary Research Fellow at the Slade School of Fine Art. His work investigates the complexity of social and cultural politics, often challenging views on ethnicity, race and culture.

Also, Ibrahim El Salahi, Sudanese British-based artist. He is best known as a pioneer of modern African art. His Arab-African heritage is reflected in his work by his creative use of elements drawn from Sudan's literary and visual heritage.

Sokari Douglas Camp, Nigerian-born British sculptor. She predominantly works in steel and her sculptures refer to her Nigerian roots and international issues. In 2003 she was shortlisted for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square for her proposed work, NO-O-War No-O-War-R.

Chaired by Chris Spring, Curator of the British Museum Africa Galleries and responsible for developing the collections of contemporary African art and the collections from eastern and southern Africa.

Event developed in partnership with the Royal African Society Book tickets through the British Museum Ticket Desk +44 (0)20 7323 8181 www.britishmuseum.org

Seven days before the World Cup kicks off in South Africa a night of celebration and solidarity. Show starts 7pm, food from 6pm, dance floor through to 2am. At The Camden Centre, Euston Road London WC1 (opposite St Pancras Station).

A night to savour what a World Cup in South Africa will be like, and to help us create this we have brought over an amazing selection of young South African talent including the fantastic music of Bongeziwe Mabandla, poetry from South Africa's brightest young poet Lebo Mashile, comedy from the presenter of South Africa TV's main World Cup show 'Countdown to 2010' Eugene Khoza. Soweto DJ S 'busiso Nxumalo will be recreating his legendary Politburo club sessions, while for live music we have the incredible sound of The Township Express. Plus Diski Dancers, Steve Bloomfield author of Africa United, writers Gary Younge and Gillian Slovo, TUC President Dougie Rooney, plus South African food, beer and wine. In association with The TUC and others, supported by ACTSA, Action for Southern Africa.

YOUR TICKET IS A £5 VOUCHER OFF PHILOSOPHY FOOTBALL T-SHIRTS BOUGHT ON THE NIGHT! BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT.

http://www.philosophyfootball.com/view_item.php?pid=587

A small mining town deep in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In Mama Nadi's bar her rules apply. No arguments, no politics, no guns. When two new girls tainted with the stigma of their recent past arrive, Mama is forced to reassess her business priorities and personal loyalties. As tales of local atrocities spread and tensions between rebels and government militia rise, the realities of life in civil war provide the ultimate test of the human spirit.

A play by Lynn Nottage. Her other plays include Intimate Apparel and Fabulation. The cast includes Jenny Jules –Big White Fog, The Homecoming (Almeida), Death and the King's Horseman (National Theatre) – and Lucian Msamati–ID (Almeida), Pericles (RSC), No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (BBC/HBO) and Death and the King's Horseman (National Theatre).

http://www.almeida.co.uk/production_details/production_details.aspx?code=91

This major exhibition presents exquisite examples of brass, copper, stone and terracotta sculpture from West Africa.

The Kingdom of Ife was a powerful, cosmopolitan and wealthy city-state in West Africa (in what is now modern south-west Nigeria). Ife flourished as a political, spiritual, cultural and economic centre in the 12th–15th centuries AD, and was an influential hub of local and long-distance trade networks.

The exhibition features superb pieces of Ife sculpture, drawn almost entirely from the magnificent collections of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, Nigeria. The artists of Ife developed a refined and highly naturalistic sculptural tradition in stone, terracotta, brass and copper to create a style unlike anything in Africa at the time. The technical sophistication of the casting process is matched by the artworks' enduring beauty.

The human figures portray a wide cross-section of Ife society and include images of youth and old age, health and disease, suffering and serenity. www.britishmuseum.org

The Africa gas & LNG market is growing exponentially with increasing energy demand as well as many new discoveries being made in various countries within the continent. Where is the new market demand for gas and LNG within and outside Africa? What are the driving forces for such demand? How have the regulatory and legal frameworks in Africa been involving? What measures can the regulators take further to ensure sustainable market development? What are the proven gas commercialization practices? How can private sector take advantage of these market and regulatory movement? What are the new challenges and opportunities faced in the gas industry after the recent world economic meltdown? What are the considerations to make when constructing key infrastructure projects for gas development to reach more revenue and build better partner relations? What are the financing solutions that suit your projects most? How is best to negotiate successful sales, purchase, joint operation, concession, storage & transportation agreements? What are the gas & LNG pricing trends and how will they affect your business? What are the best gas transportation and distribution practice? What are the key differences and their commercial impact between projects onshore and offshore? How to effectively manage the risks involved in gas and LNG development? How are the upcoming new projects in Africa going on and how do they impact the market? What new technology breakthroughs you can leverage for your business advantage? Where will Africa stand in the global and domestic gas & LNG market in the next 5 years?

Mark your calendar on the 27th - 28th July 2010 and come join us in Johannesburg to discuss and learn about the best strategies, approaches, techniques and innovations in the fast developing Africa gas & LNG market. You will hear in-depth insights shared by a panel of top notch experts from major domestic and international energy companies, government & regulatory bodies and expert consultants in this field. You will also have the opportunity to network with and learn from your peers from various backgrounds with valuable experience. Don't miss out on this most updated and exciting Africa Gas & LNG Summit!

www.neo-edge.com/africagasandlngsummit2010.

Born in the UK and based at Spike Island artist studios in Bristol, Gloria Ojulari Sule's work includes drawing, painting, mixed media installation and video. She is interested in creating work which dispels stereotypes and draws on themes of race, identity and culture.

Her art reflects her own experiences of being a woman of dual heritage and seeks to reclaim references to her African descent.

Rich Mix, 35 - 47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LA 020 7613 7498

South Africa Landscape highlights the rich diversity of plant life from South Africa's Cape region – an internationally renowned biodiversity hotspot – and celebrates the two institutions' shared vision to strengthen cultural understanding and support biodiversity conservation across the world.

Connections are made between plants, people and objects on display in the Museum's African galleries.

The landscape includes the Western Cape's famous fynbos, succulent Karoo vegetation and the coastal flora of the Eastern Cape. It features African lily (Agapanthus), fynbos heather, daisies such as the bright blue marguerite (Felicia amelloides) and the Cape daisy (Osteospermum hyoseroides), the South African geranium (Pelargonium), the Lesotho red hot poker (Kniphofia caulescens) with its bright orange rocket-shaped flowers and the shocking pink fig marigold (Carpobrotus).

The layout is a walk-through landscape with a desert feel of tumbled rocks, scree and sand, interspersed with strangely shaped quiver trees (Aloe dichotoma), swathes of spectacular plant colour, and an understorey of desert annual and perennial plants. Reproductions of famous examples of rock art depicting men and animals, from well-documented sites in South Africa, are incised on to a number of rocks in the landscape.

The plants in this landscape were sourced from nurseries in South Africa. They were chosen to highlight the rich diversity of flora in South Africa's Cape region. The plants were shipped to Britain in a refrigerated container and upon their arrival it took four weeks to build the landscape outside the Museum.

This prestigious conference is a comprehensive way to understand today's most pressing economic and business issues. Today's HR professional must take on the role of strategic business counsellor. You will emerge with a strengthened understanding of how to position your business to thrive in a recovering economy. Plan to make this conference part of your professional development for 2010.

Conference highlights:

HR Directors, HR managers, HR policy Advisors, Employee Relations Managers, Communication Managers, Heads of Departments, Heads of Organisational Development, General Managers, HR practitioners, Consultants, Students, Functional Managers; and others who have a people management role.

For further information: www.careernation.com

Workshops have been devised to benefit national delegates and project managers. Experts and Fund Managers will explain the criteria needed to access their funds and finances, financial options, packages, and the processes required for successful partnerships. In order to generate maximum impact and engagements between participants and delegates, the workshops will be attached to the Investors Forum in which speed meetings between investors and project opportunities will be ongoing throughout the course of the event.

Four plenary sessions devised to provide learning experiences from the countries participating and other developing nations, will take place over the two days. On the agenda are issues about access to finance for sustainable investments into key infrastructure projects, developing a stable and secure environment and empowerment of local content. Other topics include power generation, community development, industries, urban planning and development, the role of African banks in building infrastructure, regional and cross border cooperation to enhance infrastructure and trade, and private public partnerships and collaborations inside countries forming Africa's four Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

The G8 Africa Infrastructure Investment Conference has the full support of African Trade Ministries including Departments of Trade and Industries and the New Partnerships for African Development. Businesses who are already partners in development in Africa and those that are looking for new markets are invited to attend the event in Ghana to explore the many new opportunities available.

The University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business and the Global Business School Network (GBSN) will co-host the fifth annual Global Business School Network conference, to be held June 10-11, 2010, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. The conference provides an opportunity for business school leaders from around the world to connect with stakeholders from government, nonprofit and private-sector organizations to exchange ideas, share global expertise and develop partnerships.

This year's conference is themed "Innovation for Impact: Business Schools at the Crossroads of Development" and will focus on the innovative and entrepreneurial ways business schools are collaborating with academic institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and the public and private sector to improve management and business education in emerging markets.

The Global Business School Network facilitates knowledge-sharing among more than 30 member schools and partners to help build programs at business schools in emerging markets. The goal is to establish strong management education to provide a solid pool of business leaders to local, regional and multinational organizations in those markets.

Additional information for the 2010 conference, including registration and hotel information, is available online at http://www.gbsnonline.org/2010.

Is your HR function driving your business or are you seeking your dream job?

The need of identifying, retaining and managing any organisation's human capital is crucial in achieving corporate goals like maximising profits, increasing business and reducing costs. Especially in Africa and Ghana, Human Resource Management is often treated as an add-on administrative task, thus the optimum benefits that a professional HR department or staff brings to the organisation is often lost.

Brighter Futures 2010, therefore, will assist Ghanaian and African organisations that want to move their HR and People Management to the next level from recruitment to outsourcing, from using modern and effective technology to training and developing their staff, from staff retention to building the best teams, etc, at minimum cost.

http://www.brighterfutures4africa.com

Icicle Creek Music Center and Sankusem proudly present. The African Music and Dance Festival 2010! The Festival will offer an enthralling five-day series of workshops, masterclasses, lectures, and performances led by Ghanaian Ethnomusicologist and Professor Emeritus J.H. Kwabena Nketia, Princeton musicologist Professor Kofi Agawu, Ghanaian master drummer Obo Addy and his Okropong Drum and Dance Ensemble, virtuoso American violinist, Rachel Barton Pine, Ghanaian pianist Dr. George François, and the internationally acclaimed Icicle Creek Piano Trio.

Come join us for the entire Festival or for a day. Room and board packages and day passes for events are available. Don't miss your chance to personally experience the vibrant sights, sounds, and scholarship of Africa presented by some of the world's most prominent artists and lecturers in the field. Check out www.icicle.org or www.sankusem.org for registration information and a schedule of events today!!!

If you're facing recruitment, resourcing and talent management challenges in your organisation, the conference provides timely, expert advice to help you address them.

With case studies from leading organisations and the very latest industry research and updates on legislation, the conference provides everything you need now and in the future. Finding and retaining the right talent is key to competitive success, but does your organisation have the right techniques and strategies in place?

Join us to discover proven recruitment tactics and strategies, new ways to identify and engage talent to improve business performance and resourcing strategies that will help you develop and deliver the capability your organisation needs.

http://www.cipd.co.uk/cande/arrc/seminars

Drive organisational performance through technology. The HR Software Show is the best place to source new software and discover how your existing systems can work harder. Discover how technology can transform your organisation, streamline process and improve efficiency.

Join us at this free exhibition and meet leading suppliers, test out new products and get advice, tips and updates.

Pre-register for 2010 Choose from 12 bite-sized sessions and get updates on the latest developments in HR software and technology. Get tips on choosing new software and how to improve the system you already have. Get crucial advice on the questions to ask.

Wynton Marsalis and Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra bring their big band music to East London.

Hackney Empire is proud to be part of the first major residency of Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra at the Barbican; a series of concerts charting the story of the American jazz orchestra – celebrating 80 years of great big-band music. Also featuring a major Creative Learning programme, workshops, family concerts and performances across East London.

Sun 20 Jun 3pm Jazz for Young People. Special concert hosted by Wynton Marsalis inviting families into the world of jazz through singing, dancing, storytelling and listening, featuring new arrangements of familiar children's songs.

Sun 20 Jun 7.30pm Modern Jazz Masters. Experience the music that took jazz into the modern era. Originals by Marsalis and JALCO members, plus their arrangements of music by Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Jackie McLean.

Visit the Barbican website for information and to book.

Mining and Mineral Processing Optimization & Strategic Risk Management course will give participants a comprehensive briefing on the latest developments in mining and mineral processing optimization and challenge any traditional thinking about risk - most importantly the combination of the two in the business planning process in the context of uncertain future metal prices.

These optimization and risk management methodologies are credited with increasing the value of mining businesses by 5% - 35% or more. Through a series of detailed case studies, participants will experience and understand how this can be achieved and be able to assess the applicability to their own businesses.

Please go to http://www.salvoglobal.com/miningrisk_enquiry.asp or contact Vivian at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more info on this interesting masterclass. Seats are running out fast! Please quote promo code VHR504 to enjoy special rates!

With our commitment to providing outstanding executive leadership development programmes and the latest knowledge in the field of leadership, BMS Consultancy is proud to announce the integrated leadership, strategic and change management training programme to be held in Durban, South Africa to coincide with the world cup.

The 5-day intensive programme is designed to equip staff in both the private and public sector organisations with the intellectual agility, tools and insights required for contemporary organizational management.

The programme is results-oriented and explores the three key themes challenging senior staff in around the globe: leadership, strategy, transformation and change management.

It would be a very memorable programme that will combine learning with social networking and opportunity to see World Cup Football Match live!

For more information please: Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or Telephone +447734800687

Waltham Forest Thuso in South Africa is a Charitable Trust to help raise funds for supporting the increasing number of orphans and destitute students at Thuto Lesedi High School in South Africa who need school fees, food, books and uniforms. Thuso means "helping hand" in Sesotho, one of South Africa's 11 official languages and was set up by Waltham Forest branch of Action for Southern Africa, WFACTSA, which was the successor to the Anti-Apartheid Organisation.

This year's fundraising garden party will be at 37 Grosvenor Park Road, Walthamstow, London E17 9PD. The fundraising garden party is to support young people, many of them AIDS orphans, at Thuto Lesedi Secondary School in South Africa with a much needed feeding programme. Lunch will include a wide selection of delicious home-cooked dishes including vegetarian. Donations: Adults: £7 includes 1 free glass of wine/beer, children: £2.50 and under 5's: Free. http://thuso.org/?cat=2