This summer’s “Discover Africa” forum at 3M’s headquarters in Minnesota generated some good attendance and great discussions. It’s an honor to be part of the 3M leadership team working to strengthen 3M’s presence in Africa, where we already have operations but believe we can do more.

I have personally visited a number of countries in Africa over the past 10 years, and I’ve seen the widely prevalent entrepreneurial spirit. We see hard-working Africans who demonstrate a keen aspiration to improve their economic well-being, a vibrant retail sector, improving telecommunications, a robust focus on improving health care and, in select markets, actively emerging e-commerce. Consider President Obama’s historic trip to Kenya and Ethiopia, along with growing trade and political stability, and you can see why it’s such an interesting time to be looking ahead.

We can foresee the relationship between Africa and 3M growing through enhanced, local and innovative solutions. Our tagline – “3M Science. Applied to Life.” – becomes real there in exciting ways every day, and we look forward to building on that.