The Big Emerging Continent: The Rise of Africa – Challenges and Opportunities A Warm welcome from Virginia Commonwealth University to the Eight Annual Conference on Business and Entrepreneurship in Africa – October 4-7, 2017 in Historic Richmond, Virginia, USA On behalf of the Africa Business and Entrepreneurship Research Society (ABERS – www.africabusiness.org) and the Center for International Business Advancement (CIBA – www.ciba.vcu.edu) at Virginia Commonwealth University (www.vcu.edu), we are pleased to invite you to participate in the Eighth Annual Conference on Business and Entrepreneurship in Africa (http://africabusiness.org/conference/).