Day 2: Wednesday 23 June
07:30 Special Breakfast Session
09:00 Session 9: Our Common Wealth: The Business of Health
As Government and the private sector collaborated to combat the Covid-19 crisis, a country’s economic and health performance became inextricably linked. How do government and the private sector work together to ensure a healthy population? Insurance is one answer and full state provision is another. Can wholly private provision ever be the answer to a vibrant economy and a productive workforce?
Session 10: A Connected Commonwealth: FinTech for Growth
Tech was one of 2020’s standout sectors but digital is not yet for all. In a digital world, remote communities need not be remote, government can up its tax take and business could find new customers and growth capital at an affordable rate. Can blockchain really revolutionise everything from credit decisions to legal and audit processes? What is the potential of Fintech in a truly digital Commonwealth?
Session 11: Clean Energy: Advancing the Transition to a Green Economy
In extending modern energy services to all citizens, Commonwealth countries must balance their fast-growing energy demands with long-term economic and environmental sustainability. Decisions made today will shape the world’s energy sector for decades to come. How can the Commonwealth serve as a platform for international cooperation to advance the acceleration of renewable energy uptake? What are some of the measures,
incentives and policies that Governments can introduce in order to attract greater investment into clean energy and ease the transition to a green economy?
10:30 Networking break
11:00 Session 12: International Finance Centres and the Real Economy
International Finance Centres are critical to the growth of the real economy. What measures are IFCs across the Commonwealth taking to boost regional recovery? How can a Centre of Excellence, such as Kigali’s support business? Can the Commonwealth agree on integration to reduce the cost of cross-border flows and spur growth?
Session 13: Innovation in Digital Healthcare
Digital healthcare’s use of interconnected systems to help manage illnesses and health risks could transform outcomes for patients. How can technological change, from AI and big data to blockchain be harnessed as a solution for wider access? How can Governments and insurers support a fast-developing sector to create a genuine public good?
11:00 Session 14: The Commonwealth Standards Network
Trade across borders flows more easily with a common set of standards and regulations. How does the Commonwealth ensure that standards encourage trade, give consumers confidence and add value for producers without them serving to protect markets for incumbents? Focusing on the Commonwealth Standard Network launched at CHOGM 2018 in London, this session will be developed in partnership with the UK’s British Standards Institution (BSI), with the support of the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office
(FCDO) and will look at the next two stages of the programme.
12:30 Networking lunch
14:00 Session 15: Smart FDI: Driving the Recovery
Foreign Direct Investment flows are falling worldwide. How are Commonwealth Investment Promotion Agencies adapting to economic uncertainty and unstable geopolitics? As the pressure of an economic downturn impacts their communities, how can IPAs persuade capital to flow and ensure a win-win outcome for employees and investors?
Session 16: Field to Fork: Commonwealth Excellence in Agribusiness
Food is a key outcome of agricultural activities, and, in turn, is a key input into good nutrition. What are the innovative, value-added solutions within the agricultural industry that can simultaneously satisfy the need for employment and the nutritional quality of food required to sustain rapidly expanding populations? How can Commonwealth Governments maximise offset strategies to secure resilient food systems that are sustainable and affordable and job creators?
Session 17: Financing Blue-Green Growth for Sustainable Islands
The unique characteristics of small islands are both benefits and vulnerabilities. How can green financing solutions such as “The Commonwealth Green Finance Facility” help islands use their size and agility to accelerate their uptake of Nature Based Solutions and transform their reliance on tourism and shipping into blue-green growth? What are the other opportunities available for clean growth that drive economic development
and ecological resilience on land and sea?
15:30 Networking break
16:00 Session 18: AfCFTA: Unlocking Africa’s Vast Potential
The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement promises the opportunity to deliver transformative growth for Africans. How can African cooperation and integration intensify? How will AfCFTA enable value-added internal trade across a continent that is home to the world’s fastest growing labour force and consumer markets? How is the AfCFTA’s secretariat in Ghana planning to address the infrastructure gap and support African businesses in their efforts to meet ever-rising internal and global demand for services and added-value manufactured goods?
16:00 Session 19: Commonwealth Insurance Forum
De-risking and insuring against loss are key elements of global business. The ‘insurance protection gap’ is especially felt in emerging markets. How can the Commonwealth serve to strengthen the insurance industry and help provide access to deeper pools? How did the insurers grapple with an unpredicted pandemic that upended business operations and national health services?
Session 20: Reimagining Tourism
Tourism is a ‘supergrowth industry’ and a vital pillar of many Commonwealth countries. In this session, Commonwealth industry leaders will share their future strategies, such as the leveraging of the Commonwealth network, to revitalise tourism and revive ancillary sectors, including transport, hospitality, and natural and cultural attractions. As tourism numbers are expected to remain suppressed by low consumer confidence, what lessons will the industry adopt from past crises? Now that health protocols can ensure a degree of physical safety, how can industry overcome concerns and instil people’s confidence in international travel?
18:00 Reception: Welcome to Rwanda
19:00 Forum Dinner: Hosted by Rwanda
Day 3: Thursday 24 June
07:30 Special Breakfast Session
09:00 Session 21: Commonwealth Extractives: Catalysts for Public Value Creation?
The extractive industries play a dominant role in the growth and development of many Commonwealth countries. When natural resources are managed with transparency and accountable governance, the benefit creates societal and public value. How can the Commonwealth be of benefit to extractive industries and the State-Owned Enterprises that operate in the sector, in generating investment, improving capacity building and shifting towards a low carbon future? Is Rwanda’s Tantalum system a model of transparency for others?
Session 22: Commonwealth Investment Session
Led by visiting Head of Government
Session 23: Commonwealth Investment Session
Led by visiting Head of Government
10:00 Networking break
10:30 Session 24: The Future of Work: Employing Our Greatest Resource
With 2.4 billion citizens spanning 5 continents, the Commonwealth’s greatest strength lies in its people, 60% of whom are under the age of 30. What does the future of work hold for the next generations? Are our academic institutions producing young people with the skills and knowledge required for their future? How can business and government collaborate to deliver on the promise of the Commonwealth’s youth?
Session 25: Commonwealth Investment Session
Led by visiting Head of Government
Session 26:Commonwealth Investment Session
Led by visiting Head of Government
11:30 Networking break
12:00 Session 27: Sustainable Urbanisation: Building Smart Cities
Urbanisation is one of the great challenges and opportunities of our time. How do we ensure our rapidly expanding cities give decent places to live, move populations safely, provide jobs and foster innovation? How do the new cities we need protect and improve the environment for future generations?
12:00 Session 28: Commonwealth Investment Session
Led by visiting Head of Government
Session 29: Commonwealth Investment Session
Led by visiting Head of Government
13:00 Networking lunch
14:00 Closing session: A Challenge to the Commonwealth: Two years to a Sustainable World
HRH The Prince of Wales launched The Great Reset in 2020 and Terra Carta in January 2021 as an appeal to bring prosperity in harmony with nature. Rwanda, in its role as Chair-in-Office will be setting the Commonwealth’s biennial agenda during this historic juncture. How does the family of 54 Commonwealth nations, under Rwanda’s leadership, achieve a step-change in the renewal of the Commonwealth, towards collective prosperity, economic sustainability and societal resilience?
15.30 Invitation Only: Roundtable for Heads of Government and CEOs