Commented SABCOHA CEO Brad Mears, who presented the PABC's business plan and vision at the conference: "It was the first time the PABC had the opportunity to meet and engage with business coalitions in Francophone Africa - Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Chad and Senegal. It was also the first time that the French-speaking coalitions got the opportunity to understand what the PABC is all about." The next step will be the inclusion of the Francophone countries into the PABC, said Mears, adding that those Francophone countries with well-developed private sectors such as Cote d'Ivoire, DRC and Senegal, have more active business coalitions.

Plans for the Standard Bank-sponsored PABC conference in South Africa in April were also announced at the Mali conference, said Mears. "We have started discussions around what will be on the agenda for the April conference", he said. At the December conference PABC members endorsed the key involvement of the Global Business Coalition (which managed the English/French translations at the conference) and the GTZ (German Agency for Technical Cooperation) which will use the PABC as the conduit to provide technical assistance to developing countries. The PABC logo was also endorsed and a standard membership form, to be send to all French and English-speaking coalitions, was drafted.