1.  Our Chair goes to Capitol Hill: NBCC Chair Arnold Baker impressed members of the House Judiciary Committee with his official testimony in support of the Regulatory Accountability Act.  He did us all proud according to the official feedback. Thanks Arnold!

2.  A new Addition to the Federation: The New York State Black Chamber of Commerce, Inc. is official.  We have our first official meeting on November 15 in mid-town Manhattan.  The Kick Off Reception will be held in early 2012 in Albany, New York.  Stay tuned for the details and please come and celebrate with us.

3.  East Africa Market, Access, & Trade Policies Webinar: With 230 million consumers and a regional GDP of over $144 billion, East Africa is becoming recognized among top consultancies as the next frontier for U.S. businesses and investments.  The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is the centerpiece for US trade policy with Africa that aims to enhance trade through liberalized trading policies.  The East Africa Community’s (EAC) mission is to widen and deepen economic integration in order to improve the quality of life of the people of East Africa through increased competitiveness, value added production, trade and investments.  The U.S. Commercial Service will be hosting a very informative webinar involving Agribusiness, Information and Communication Technologies, Medical, Renewable Energy and Infrastructure sectors.  This event will take place on November 16, 2011 –12:00PM EST.  The fee for this is $45.00.  You will hear from the Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kenya and from U.S. companies doing business in the region.  You will also hear how the USG finance agencies can support your efforts.  They will provide you with answers to your questions during a highly focused and interactive webinar setting.  Register Now:  https://emenuapps.ita.doc.gov/ePublic/newWebinarRegistration.jsp?SmartCode=2Q2C .

4.  Keeping up with Botswana: The Ministry of Trade and Industry for the nation of Botswana invites NBCC members to view its website: http://www.mti.gov.bw/. Here you will find information on: companies and business registration; issuing and renewal of licenses and permits; protection of intellectual property rights; education and protection of consumers; registration and development of cooperatives; tenders (bids and RFP’s); investor programs.  Botswana is business friendly and all stable firms should take a look at it for business growth.

5.  Fraud Alert: The news of our trailblazing on the continent of Africa is generating much excitement among entrepreneurs.  Also excited are a few international con artists.  We recently have detected several attempts via email to dupe a few of our members with contract opportunities too good to be true.  Before getting involved in any international business transaction please do your due diligence and vet who you are dealing with.  Members are invited to contact Charles DeBow at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any such activity.  We will vet and clear with the proper legal authorities of the applicable nation.  Be careful out there!

6.  New Board Members: We want to welcome and congratulate Laban Onditi Rao of Nairobi, Kenya; Prosper Adabla of Accra, Ghana and Sherrie Gilchrist of Chattanooga, Tennessee for their recent appointments to the Board of Directors for the PanAfrican Entrepreneurs Conference, Inc.  The organizing of this endeavor is going along smoothly.  In fact, we have advanced the date for the initial annual conference by one year.  It will happen in November, 2012.  Stay tuned.