Africa: Market Days succeeded in mobilizing $63.8 billion in investments in 2022

If we add the $32.8 billion generated by the 2021 Africa Investment Forum Market Days, which took place in March this year in the form of remote boardrooms, the forum raised a total of $63.8 billion. dollars in investment interest in 2022.

The three-day event, held in the commercial capital of Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan, attracted the participation of several African heads of state and government. Leaders chaired boardrooms (or deal rooms) and led deals with potential investors. Among them was Ivorian Vice-President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné, who represented President Alassane Ouattara.

Other participants include Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Liberian Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor, Tanzanian Vice President Philip Mpango, Prime Minister of Cabo Verde José Ulisses Correia e Silva and Prime Minister Patrick Achi of Côte d’Ivoire.

This year’s Market Days event – ​​the third since 2018 – was held under the theme: “Building economic resilience through sustainable investments”. It was held against a backdrop of global economic challenges that have been compounded by the impacts of climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The event highlighted the common will of the founding partners of the Africa Investment Forum to help unlock Africa’s investment potential in critical sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, energy, education, creative industries, sports and deals that support women entrepreneurs.

The founding partners of the forum are the African Development Bank, Africa50, Afreximbank, African Finance Corporation, Development Bank of Southern Africa, European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank and Commerce Bank and development (from East Africa).

The partners said this year’s results have exceeded expectations, especially as the world is currently grappling with many unprecedented economic challenges.

The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, praised the results of the forum and the commitment of partners.

He said: “Despite the challenges, we are not afraid, and we have not despaired or given up hope. We are excited and driven to achieve a collective goal…accelerate deal-making to transform Africa and its investment landscape. »

Akinwumi Adesina said the goal of the Africa Investment Forum is to attract more foreign direct investment to Africa and ensure that the private sector remains the engine of this transformation.

“The private sector is Africa’s growth accelerator. We need to mitigate real and perceived risks and persuade the private sector that investing in Africa is safe,” he stressed.

The President of the Islamic Development Bank, Dr. Muhammed Sulaiman Al Jasser, said in a message that his organization was optimistic that “our commitment and dedication to the AIF will translate into tangible and measurable results for the benefit of our member countries across Africa”.

Dr. Muhammed Sulaiman Al Jasser reaffirmed the commitment of the Islamic Development Bank Group to support transformative African projects, especially those that promote financial, economic and social resilience and sustainability.

Chairman Emeritus and Managing Director of the Trade and Development Bank Group, Admassu Tadesse, underlined the value of the “AIF spirit”, which represents a step forward to progress and close deals.

Tadesse stressed: “Despite the ongoing global crises, we must keep our eyes on the ball. We must continue to encourage and enable investment in agriculture and industry as well as in infrastructure. By producing our own food and manufacturing more, we can increase our trade. This will result in an overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions linked to distant imports, while generating more jobs and opportunities for our populations. »

European Investment Bank President Werner Hoyer, en route to COP27, said that “a diversity of ambitious and far-reaching initiatives” generated strong interest at this year’s Market Days.

“At the European Investment Bank, we are excited to see how the creativity and vision of African innovators are having an impact, especially in the area of ​​technology, which holds such great potential for the future of the economy. ‘Africa,” Mr. Hoyer said.

Mohan Vivekanandan, Development Bank of Southern Africa executive committee member responsible for credit origination and coverage, noted that a unique feature of this year’s forum was that it focused on transactions.

“Everything is in this articulation: on the one hand the promoters and project developers and on the other hand the way in which we, as development financiers, help them to implement their vision to improve the quality of lives of Africans, and how we promote economic growth, job creation and industrialization,” said Mohan Vivekanandan.

Samaila Zubairu, President and CEO of the African Finance Corporation, said: “Current global economic challenges point to the need to strengthen Africa’s self-sufficiency by investing in resilient infrastructure. These critical investments are needed to boost Africa’s industrialization and economic prosperity. »

Alain Ebobissé, CEO of Africa50, said the Africa Investment Forum presents a timely platform to help scale up and accelerate investment in Africa, particularly as partners work to build the continent’s resilience to economic shocks and to climate change.

According to Alain Ebobissé, “it will be essential to attract new pools of capital into infrastructure. More specifically, African institutional investors, such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, must play a key role and will be the architects of infrastructure development in Africa. »

Afreximbank Chairman Benedict Oramah said: “This year, the Africa Investment Forum reflects, through the number, attitudes and diversity of its participants, the interest and optimism of global investors in of the continent and its opportunities. We close knowing that AIF, Africa’s largest transactional investment marketplace, continues to be a huge success. In addition, the event serves to gauge international confidence in Africa’s economic and political development, and the unparalleled investment opportunities this creates. »

A feeling summed up thus by Chinelo Anohy, the senior director of the Africa Investment Forum, in his thanks to the participants at the closing session: “A large part of the successes recorded by the Africa Investment Forum is due to its spirit of partnership. It is up to us to ensure that the continent is what it should be. »

Since its inception in 2018, the Africa Investment Forum platform has raised over $100 billion in investment interest.

Source: African Development Bank Group (AfDB)