Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs Ramin Toloui will travel to South Africa and Nigeria November 1-9 to participate in multilateral fora and conduct bilateral diplomacy.

In South Africa, Assistant Secretary Toloui will attend the 20th United States-Sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (AGOA Forum) meetings in Johannesburg.  He will co-chair a breakout session entitled Diversifying Global Supply Chains during the Forum and will host roundtables with business leaders within the technology, innovation, and intellectual property enforcement ecosystem on the margins of the Forum.  He will also conduct bilateral meetings with South African counterparts and those from African Growth and Opportunity Act beneficiary countries.

In Nigeria, Assistant Secretary Toloui will deliver a keynote address at the Africa Creative Markets Conference on the importance of intellectual property protection for the creative industries.  He will then meet with other strategic partners focused on the creative industries and intellectual property in Lagos.  In Abuja, he will conduct bilateral meetings with Nigerian counterparts.