July 20, 2010
Contact:
Renee DeGross Valdes, 404-413-1353
University Relations
ATLANTA – Preparations for the World Cup in South Africa paid off. The event came off without major incident and with spectacular success.
Despite a $3 billion rand (USD $4.5 billion) investment in infrastructure, creating an estimated 130,000 new jobs, the country still faces unemployment rates of about 25 percent. In addition, the country has one of the world’s highest per capita rates of crime; an estimated 11 percent of the population is infected with HIV; corruption is rampant and its health and education systems are dysfunctional.
But South Africa is well positioned to address its problems, according to experts who will discuss that country’s challenges at a World Affairs Council of Atlanta event hosted by The Coca-Cola Company on Tuesday, July 27 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Panelists will be Alexander B. Cummings, chief administrative officer and executive vice president of The Coca-Cola Company; Stephen Hayes, president of the Corporate Council on Africa, a membership organization composed of major U.S. companies operating in Africa; and Toni Castel, founder and president, the South African-American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast and president of the Castel Law Firm.
The program will be moderated by Cedric Suzman, an international business scholar in the Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business. Suzman, who is South African by birth, is executive vice president and director of programming at the World Affairs Council of Atlanta.
The program is free for GSU students/faculty/staff, $20 for general admission or $15 for World Affairs Council members. Reservations are required.
The World Affairs Council of Atlanta is a member-based, non-profit, non-partisan organization affiliated with Georgia State University and the J. Mack Robinson College of Business. The council’s mission is to provide a forum for dialogue, a source of expertise and an engine for research on international affairs and global issues.
For event reservations, please visit www.gsu.kintera.org/southafrica. For more information on the World Affairs Council, please visit www.wacatl.gsu.edu.
What: Briefing on the challenges facing South Africa
When: Tuesday, July 27; Registration 6:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Program 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Where: The Coca-Cola Company, One Coca-Cola Plaza, Atlanta, Ga., 30313