The 2015 Africa CEO Forum, to be held in Geneva on 16 -17 March, will focus on Africa's new economic environment and the implications of falling raw materials prices, health crises and security threats on businesses and Africa's growth forecast.

A media statement released by the Africa CEO Forum confirms that the agenda will focus primarily on the development priorities of African businesses and up to 800 decision makers are expected to attend, including 500 CEOs from 30 African countries.

"Africa's economic outlook will be discussed in depth, particularly at the opening plenary session. Experts and delegates will discuss the growth paths of Africa's economies over the next five years. The time for this discussion is more relevant than ever: several African countries have been weakened by falling oil and mineral prices while others, which are less dependent on raw materials, are seeing new opportunities open up. It remains to be seen exactly what and where these new opportunities are, and how they can be leveraged...," the statement reads.

The organisers - led by Groupe Jeune Afrique and the African Development Bank - have decided to tackle the issue of the famous Doing Business index which, every year, measures progress in the business environment of 189 countries.

The question that will be raised, according to organisers, is why is Africa lagging behind (there are 36 African countries in the bottom 50) when Georgia, which is also an emerging economy, has climbed 100 places in eight years and is now in the top ten?

The urban explosion in Africa will also be high on the agenda at the forum. The focus here will not be on questions of urban planning, but rather what share of the 25 billion dollars-a-year consumer market African businesses can tap into, and under what conditions.

"Because of their invaluable grass-roots knowledge of transport, networks of all kinds, trade, planning, building and other (new) sectors in Africa, they could play a decisive role in structuring African cities and making them more productive," claim organisers.