London’s Chuka Umunna was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Streatham in May 2010, becoming the first MP for the constituency to have grown up in the area. In October 2011, Chuka was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, replacing the Rt Hon John Denham MP who announced his resignation from Shadow Cabinet.
In this role, Mr Umunna leads the Opposition Shadow Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) team, leading for the opposition on a wide range of issues including business, enterprise, science and universities.Recently, with responsibilities involving business and commerce, Umunna led a trade mission, with the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to Lagos, Nigeria and Accra,Ghana from May 13-17.
Africa has the fastest-growing middle class in the world, set to grow to 1.1 billion by 2060.. Nigeria is one of the fastest growing countries in Africa and it is estimated that it will surpass South Africa as the continent’s largest economy by 2016.
Commenting, Streatham MP & Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna MP said:
“London’s large Diaspora communities, historic links and deep cultural ties mean that we are uniquely placed to make the most of the strong economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa – our links give us a unique advantage to make the most of the enormous increase in demand and export opportunities emerging there so that local businesses at home can grow and create jobs in our community.
A lot of emphasis is rightly put on the need to increase our exports to countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China, but it’s also crucial that we push to boost trade with the next generation of emerging economies which include a large number of countries in Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa is predicted to achieve a growth rate of over 5 per cent over the next two years and Africa’s middle class is forecast to grow to over 1 billion over the next five decades – a whole lot of demand that our area and our country has huge potential to make the most of.
Born in October 1978, Chuka studied Law at the University of Manchester and the University of Burgundy, followed by Nottingham Law School.
