VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNM #0945 3341803
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301803Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 5487

UNCLAS NIAMEY 000945 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAID PREL SOCI NR
SUBJECT: Nominees to Presidential Entrepreneurship Summit 
 
REF: STATE 112468 
 
¶1. In response to reftel request, post nominates ten individuals to 
represent Niger at the Presidential Entrepreneurship Summit to be 
held during the first quarter of 2010.  Representing a cross-section 
of Niger's small business community, these individuals are likely to 
have the means and the motivation to travel to the United States for 
this event.  (Note:  Other potential nominees representing very 
small businesses and/or non-governmental organizations were 
identified as requiring travel funding in order to participate.  End 
note.) 
 
¶2. Embassy Niamey nominates: 
 
a. Ms. Djamila Massaoudou is a young (31 years old), very dynamic, 
and self-made businesswoman.  As founder and President of Djamila 
Pressing, she employs more than 70 workers on four sites at her 
modern dry cleaning and laundry facilities in Niamey, and plans on 
expanding in the upcoming months. 
 
b. Mr. Sidi-Ahmed Seidnaly Alphadi is a world-renowned fashion 
designer who is committed to the development of the tourist and 
economic sectors in Niger.  Mr. Alphadi initiated the International 
Festival of African Fashion (FIMA) in 1998, which has emerged in 
recent years to be one of the major cultural events on the 
continent.  Through his retail stores, hospitality businesses, 
production factories, and tourism promotion, Mr. Alphadi is an 
enormous generator of jobs and goodwill.  He is of the ethnic Arab 
minority. 
 
c. Mr. Mamane Abou is the owner of one of the most reliable 
independent newspapers in Niger, "Le Republicain," as well as a 
large printing company "Nouvelle Imprimerie du Niger."  He has been 
instrumental in fighting for the repeal of Niger's restrictive 
criminal libel statutes, which impede the freedom of the press.  In 
addition, Mr. Abou is the owner of the two biggest hotels in 
sub-region (Maradi Guest House and Hotel Tarka in Tahoua).  Mr. Abou 
is of the ethnic Tuareg minority, from the under-represented north 
of Niger. 
 
d. Mr. Abdoulkarim Seydou Hassane runs a promising leather-working 
business.  After receiving his master's degree in applied 
electronics in China, he created a leather goods import and export 
business, building on Niger's burgeoning reputation as a provider of 
quality leatherwork. 
 
e. Mr. Sadou Fouddi is an established business professional whose 
construction company, while small with around ten full-time 
employees, hires many more contractual workers.  His company 
specializes on educational facilities, partnering with the 
government and NGOs like World Vision. 
 
f. Mr. Iddi Ango Ibrahim is the founder of CAREN, Niger's second 
largest insurance company.  He is also a significant shareholder in 
several local companies, including BIA-Niger (banking sector), ZAIN 
(cellular telecommunications), and Les Moulins du Sahel (grain 
processing). 
 
g. Mr Ibrahim Bawa Souley has been active in the private sector for 
years.  His original printing business, Imprimarie IBS, is now 
managed by his sons.  He was a parliamentarian during the regime of 
President Bare and is still the president of a small political 
party, but his main focus now is a large new fruit plantation that 
he is developing near Gaya, in the southernmost tip of Niger.  He 
currently markets fresh fruit and is constructing a processing plant 
to produce fruit juice. 
 
h. Mr. Ali Djimba is a Director of CAT Niger, a large shipping 
business with over 100 employees.  Mr. Djimba represents the Port of 
Cotonou in Niger, and his firm handles container shipments in and 
out of Niger as well as exports of uranium ore mined by AREVA. 
 
i. Mme Maidah Zeinabou was trained as an agronomist.  After working 
for a few years at Braniger, the local Coca-Cola bottling company, 
she started a milk processing business called Nigerlait, which 
produces a range of dairy products in a modern processing plant. 
 
j. Mr. Amadou Boubacar Wankoye is in business with his brother 
Boureima Wankoye.  Both are Directors of "Achat Service 
International" (ASI), a company that imports industrial equipment 
and chemicals from Europe, the United States, and Japan, as well as 
investors in other local companies, but they are best known for 
their entrepreneurial activities in the agricultural sector, 
including growing and exporting onions, which provide over 15 
percent of Niger's export earnings.  They were instrumental in 
introducing gum Arabic plantations in the degraded desert areas of 
Niger.  ASI's large plantation of gum Arabic has provided a source 
of income for over 6,000 rural families. 
 
¶3. Embassy Niamey appreciates Department's consideration of these 
nominees and would be pleased to provide additional information if 
needed. 
 
ALLEN