U.S. billionaire Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker plan to co-host the second U.S.-Africa Business Forum, a day focused on increasing trade and investment between the U.S. and Africa.

The forum is scheduled to be held in New York City the week of Sept. 19, coinciding with the 71st Session of the U.N. General Assembly, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The goal of the second forum is to build on the progress of the first one, held during the first-ever U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in August, 2015. Almost 50 African heads of state and more than 150 global CEOs attended.

Bloomberg, 73, has a net worth $35.5 billion, Forbes reported. He owns 88 percent of the media company he founded in his name, which in 2014 had $9 billion in revenues, and he’s all about doing business in Africa.

He is also a philanthropist, and has given away $3.8 billion through his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies — the 12th largest foundation in the U.S., according to the Foundation Center. His contributions include $100 million to the Gates Foundation to help eradicate polio and $1 billion to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University.

“African markets hold many untapped opportunities for U.S. investors and companies – and capitalizing on them would create jobs and improve lives on both sides of the Atlantic,” Bloomberg said in a prepared statement. “That’s the goal of this year’s forum – to foster the strong ties between the U.S. and Africa that will drive greater economic growth and lift earnings in both places.”

At the first U.S.-Africa Business Summit in 2015, Bloomberg talked about the possibility of more summits and why doing business in Africa is important for his business. AFKInsider was there.

“We are not Johnny-come-lately to Africa,” Bloomberg told African heads of state. “We’ve been doing business in Africa for 20 years now. Bloomberg Philanthropies has been to 40 different countries around Africa. We have something like 150 employees who work in Africa and we see nothing but good opportunities to come.”

A longtime supporter of gay rights, Bloomberg was asked whether he could do something to change the laws that criminalize homosexual relations in dozens of African countries. He said no, “it’s not our job” to change other countries’ laws, NPR reported. 

Bloomberg is considering running for president of the U.S. in the 2016 election, CNBC reported. It won’t be the first time his name is mentioned as a possible candidate. He was also pegged as a candidate for the U.S. presidential elections in 2008, 2012, and for governor of New York in 2010, but didn’t seek office.

Bloomberg at one time was ranked the seventh-richest person in the U.S. and the 13th-wealthiest in the world.

He was a major contributor to lobbyists pushing for same-sex marriage, and also backed lawyers who argued in the Supreme Court to allow same sex marriage for the entire U.S.

After campaigning to change New York City’s mayoral term limits, Bloomberg served a third term as mayor of New York, which ended in 2013.

Despite promising to dedicate his life to philanthropy, in September 2014 Bloomberg said he would return to run financial news and information company, Bloomberg, at the beginning of 2015.

The U.S.-Africa Business Forum is expected to bring together African heads of state with CEOs of U.S. and African companies to strengthen commercial and financial ties between the U.S. and Africa. The forum will focus on U.S. private-sector engagement in Africa in sectors such as finance and capital investment, infrastructure, power and energy, agriculture, consumer goods, health care, and information communication technology.

“The U.S. private sector is eager to increase its commercial connection to African economies,” Pritzker said in a prepared statement. “As the Obama administration sharpens our focus on shifting the relationship between the U.S. and Africa from one based on aid to one based on trade, we will continue to support events, partnerships, and initiatives that deepen our ties of commerce and investment.”

These are some of the promises made at the first U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit: U.S. President Barack Obama promised $14 billion in new investments in Africa by U.S. companies involved in technology, construction and finance, according to NPR.

“The U.S. is determined to be a partner in Africa’s success,” Obama said. “I want Africans buying more American products. I want Americans buying more African products.”

New business deals highlighted at the summit included a $5 billion investment from Coca-Cola for production equipment; a $2 billion investment from G.E. for a variety of projects; $200 million in investments in hotels by Marriott International; and a $66 million commitment from IBM to provide tech services for Ghana’s Fidelity Bank.