Business Events

The first exciting news is that we have recently secured sponsorship from Tunisie Valeurs who kindly offered to support LMS activities for 2010 and give our society this valuable endorsement.

Tunisie Valeurs is a member of Integra Partners, one of the most prominent financial groups across North and sub-Saharan Africa. The group started its activities in brokerage, asset management, and corporate finance in Tunisia in 1991. Then expanded its range of services by launching Tuninvest in 1994, a separate company specialized in Private Equity.

While emphasizing on the specialty and independence of each entity, the partners of Tuninvest and Tunisie Valeurs decided in 2007 to bring together the teams under one same umbrella of Integra Partners. This partnership places the Group as a unique gateway to Africa in the areas of asset management, brokerage, corporate finance, and Private equity.

Today, Integra Partners accounts for 130 dedicated professional with a sound knowledge of the African markets. The offices of the Group cover the North African Countries, and the major sub-Saharan market places. The different funds managed by the Group's professionals totalled as of December 2009 more than $650 million.

The first LMS kick off event for the New Year will be a Diner Debate on Wednesday January 20th 2010 where we will be delighted to welcome key team members of Tunisie Valeurs to debate around the following three themes:

1. Regional ambitions of Integra and the potential for a deeper financial and business integration of the Maghreb and West Africa region;

2. The Private Equity asset class in the Maghreb and West Africa; and  

3. The status and outlook of regional stock markets: valuations, investment opportunities, IPO's

This event will be led by distinguished speakers who will share with you the wealth of their experiences in this field and will hopefully give you a real insight into the North African financial world.

Please pencil in this date, 20th January 2010.

London Magnet Society's first business event was held on 23rd and 24th October 2008. The event provided our members with the opportunity to obtain a real insight into Algeria's business environment and its true potential, and gain exposure to investment opportunities in different sectors.

To precede the Investment Forum which was organised in partnership with Medicapital Bank on 24th October, an exclusive LMS Dinner with the guest speakers was organised on 23rd October at L'Anima restaurant.

LMS's second dinner event took the format of a very intimate and exclusive dinner with our guest speaker Professor Tariq Ramadan with an open discussion mixing religion, society and politics.

Tariq Ramadan holds an MA in Philosophy and French literature and a PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Geneva. He further received one-on-one intensive training in classic Islamic scholarship from Al-Azhar University scholars in Cairo. Tariq Ramadan is currently President of the European think-tank "European Muslim Network" (EMN) in Brussels.

LMS's third dinner event was held on April 30th 2009 at The Royal Institute of International Affairs "Chatham House" with our guest speaker Moulay Hafid Elalamy, President of CGEM, Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc. CGEM is the Moroccan equivalent of the CBI in the UK or the MEDEF in France.The dinner's theme was "Morocco facing the global crisis: challenges and opportunities.

The Tunisian Dinner Debate at the Lanesborough Hotel in June 09 was a huge success with a top line up of guest speakers from some of Tunisia's largest companies; Mr Ghazi Ben Tounes, General Manager: ADWYA, Mr Houssein Mouelhi, Deputy General Manager: AMEN BANK, Mr Souhail Kallel, General Manager: ASSAD, Mr Salaheddine Ladjimi, General Manager: BIAT, Mr Abdelfatah Yahia, CFO: BIAT, Mr Maher Kallel, Director of Strategy Development: POULINA, Mr Taieb Bayahi, Board Member and Shareholder: TPR, Mr Hichem Zghal, CFO: TUNISIE LEASING.

We would like to thank MediCapital Bank for co-sponsoring the event and supporting LMS to organise such a high-profile, thought-provoking event.

LMS's fourth dinner event topic was Redefining the Mediterranean space: the utopia Euro-Maghreb. On October 8th, we had the pleasure to welcome Hakim El Karoui for a Dinner-debate at the Royal Houseguards Hotel http:/www.guoman.com/en/hotels/united_kingdom/london/the_royal_horseguards/location/index.html. Founding Chairman of Club XXIème siécle http://www.21eme-siecle.org/ Hakim has been very active promoting diversity and the culture of success and leadership among the immigrant's elite in France. As a Founding Chairman of the YML Forum, he has also played a key role in trying to build bridges between the young leaders and decision makers of the Northern and Southern shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

LMS's last dinner debate in 2009 was on Tuesday December 8th, a dinner debate on Maghreb Union: what's at stake? with three outstanding guest speakers: Abderrahmane Hadj-Nacer, Francis Ghilés and Omar Aloui. The dinner took place at the Royal Horseguards Hotel.

As a former Governor of the Bank of Algeria, Senior Advisor to Banque Lazard Frères in Paris, Chairman of the Board of GP (Société Marseillaise de Crédit Group) and Union Bank (Algiers), Advisor to the Chairman of Natexis Group (Paris), founder and current member of the Board of IMBank (International Merchant Bank, Tunis), and current Chairman of the Board of HBC Holding (Paris), Abderrahmane Hadj-Nacer will give our members a fascinating insight into the issues around a successful regional and global integration of the Maghreb.

Francis Ghiles was the FT's North Africa Correspondent from 1981 to 1995 during which time he wrote and lectured extensively on energy security in Europe (Royal College of Defence, Chatham House, UCLA, Pentagon and World Bank). Francis is also a freelancer for newspapers including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, and El Pais. He has advised western governments (UK, France and the US) and major European, American and Japanese corporations working in North Africa. He's also a senior fellow at the Centro de Estudios Internacionales de Barcelona (CIDOB), where he specializes in security, energy and broader political and economic trends in North Africa and the Western Mediterranean. A unique combination of expertise and insider knowledge to deepen our understanding of the issues and enrich the debate.

Omar Aloui is a professional economist working as a consultant, a visiting professor, a columnist and an associative member. Doctor in Economics from Pierre Mendes France University (France), with masters in Applied Mathematics and Demography, he currently manages Agro-Concept, a leading consulting firm in food policy and agricultural studies based in Rabat, Morocco. Omar works across the Mediterranean zone, as well as West and East Africa. As a consultant, he's helped most major donors and leading private investors interested in the region (AFD, World Bank, CTB, AECI). As a visiting professor at the Mohamed V University, Omar is involved in applied research. He also publishes an economic column in the review Economia, published in Casablanca. He is a founding member of a strategic think tank initiated by HEM school, and of a new regional association of economists. Omar will provide us with a deep understanding of all the main business, trade and investment issues around the Maghreb Union project.

A big thank to the brokerage firm MINT for sponsoring this event and helping us invite our distinguished guests. For our members who do not know MINT yet, MINT is an independent agency trading house, founded in 2003 by Richard Barnett and Tim Bullman. Today, MINT provides top-quality execution and services for its customers, across most asset classes. MINT has just hired Farid Belkacemi, one of our most supportive members, to run and expand its Paris Office. A big thank to Farid for introducing LMS to MINT!

Cultural Events and Networking Drinks

APERTURE 27,000 ran from 15th January - 28th February 2009 at Le Violon Bleu Gallery, London. The exhibition offered an insight into Palestinian experience through the eyes and lens of four richly talented and unique artists from Palestine and its diaspora; Anisa Ashkar, Sama Alshaibi, Rana Bishara and Rula Halawani.

Ftour at Occo's every Saturday. In the Holy month of Ramadan, the LMS organised for LMS members, their families and their friends to come and experience Ftour every Saturday, 7.30pm at Occo bar & kitchen (20 Homer Street, London W1H 4NA).

LMS Year End drink

LMS did organise a drink-get together for all its members, on the 2nd of December start 19:30 till late at the Opal Club in Kensington. The LMS committee was delighted to welcome all members and friends of LMS and their friends for this special occasion.

Venue: 36 Gloucester Road, London SW7 4QT - http://www.opalbar.co.uk/ - nearest tube station is Gloucester road tube station.