Morocco is set to become Africa’s first host of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) expected to take place this November. This was made known by Barack Obama, the President of USA during the US-Africa Summit.

“This international meeting will be an event to target various countries with the aim of assuring wider participation,”said Salaheddine Mezouar, Morocco Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.

GES is a platform to facilitate the deeper interactions between various global business leaders, strengthening relationship between participants.

The summit was first made known by Barack Obama in 2009. At the time he said “this step is a new beginning”. The first summit was held in Washington DC in April 2010, with subsequent editions held in Turkey, Dubai (UAE) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). This year’s edition will make it the first time the event will be hosted in Africa.

According to the Business and Financial times, Morocco’s selection can be attributed to its recent emergence as the second most attractive country to host direct investment on the continent, only behind South Africa.