The three-day meetings in virtual boardrooms (dealing rooms) made it possible to present 40 projects in several sectors. The Africa Investment Forum boardrooms have attracted $32.8 billion in investment interest in bankable projects.
Unveiling the results of the Africa Investment Forum’s virtual boardroom sessions on Thursday, African Development Bank Group President Akinwumi A. Adesina told the 500 project sponsors, investors, deal brokers and government officials around the world who participated: “In 72 hours, you all connected, closed deals and created success”.
The three-day meetings in virtual boardrooms made it possible to present 40 projects in several sectors. President said that Africa had clearly become a land of investment again, with the gradual resorption of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Expectations have been high since the postponement last December of the Market Days of the Africa Investment Forum, Africa’s leading investment platform and event. The event had been pushed back to March due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The pandemic has also led to the cancellation of the Africa Investment Forum Market Days 2020.
The Africa Investment Forum is a multi-stakeholder investment platform. It is an initiative of the African Development Bank Group and seven other partners, all of whom have extracted potential boardroom deals from their pipelines.
Alain Ebobissé, CEO of Africa50, described the atmosphere in the meeting rooms: “Real and exciting transactions were concluded during this forum. We are seeing great interest from the private sector in various sectors, including energy – particularly renewable energy –, ICT and telecommunications, and healthcare. We must ensure that we accelerate the implementation of these measures so that success begets other successes.”
The exceptional results of the virtual boardrooms have confirmed the marked interest in a whole series of economic sectors offering a high return on investment as well as a strong social impact for Africans.
Biggest opportunity: Lagos-Abidjan highway, valued at 15.6 billion
The plan of the Lagos-Abidjan motorway corridor
Key sectors included transport, gas and energy, healthcare, agriculture, information and communication technology. Specific boardroom sessions focused on African creative industries and women-led businesses.
The boardrooms’ largest investment opportunity was the $15.6 billion Lagos-Abidjan Highway Corridor Project led by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission ). When completed, this public-private partnership project will connect Abidjan to Lagos via Accra, Lomé and Cotonou along the West African coast.
The highway will reduce travel times by 50%. It will allow landlocked countries to access ports and “will have a significant impact on the lives of more than 500 million people in West Africa,” said Mr. Adesina. The African Development Bank Group has injected more than $40 million for feasibility studies to prepare the project for investment.”
Makbel, a baiting affair
Makbel’s $50 million dairy farm has attracted the interest of more than 20 potential investors. This agricultural project in Angola has the potential to create more than 2,000 direct and indirect jobs and transform Angola into a net exporter of dairy products. Two potential partners have expressed interest in a combined 45% stake in the project.
Mr. Adesina highlighted the importance of growing women’s businesses and affirmed the African Development Bank Group’s commitment to supporting women entrepreneurs. He said the African Development Bank had set up a $1 million women’s advisory facility, the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) program. AFAWA supports women-led businesses by providing business advisory services. “Women-led businesses must grow and dominate across Africa,” Mr. Adesina said.
A health sector project, a $67 million telemedicine initiative promoted by Mobihealth, is an innovative digital health transaction. It is also led by women and foresees the establishment of a fully integrated proprietary telemedicine platform and the construction of telehealth clinics. Healthcare has become a key priority for Africa Investment Forum partners since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. In February 2022, the African Development Bank developed a strategy for healthcare infrastructure as part of its project to build an African healthcare defense system.
Energy at the heart of all challenges
Energy projects have also attracted interest. A $232 million liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Guinea involves the construction of a large-scale LNG receiving terminal and distribution network to transport natural gas to end users.
After unveiling the results of the boardrooms, the President of the AfDB and the heads of the partner organizations of the Africa Investment Forum spoke about the projects of the boards of directors and the economic recovery of Africa.
Admassu Tadesse, Chairman Emeritus and CEO of the Commerce and Development Bank, said: “The momentum has returned. The rebound has happened and, of course, now we need to support it by ensuring that these key projects start to materialize.” Mr. Tadesse cited a “green share” instrument that the Trade and Development Bank has been working on that will help boost economic growth.
Representing the CEO of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, Patrick Dlamini, Group Chief Executive Mohan Vivekanandan said, “Much of the capital we need is here on our continent. It’s about us creating the opportunities for that capital to flow, because once that happens, it creates investment opportunities, jobs and sustained economic growth. »
Denys Denya, Executive Vice President in charge of Finance, Administration and Banking Services at the African Export-Import Bank, representing the President of the institution, Professor Benedict Oramah, said: “We are excited that ministers and policy makers have participated in the boardroom sessions of the Africa Investment Forum, as we need the public and private sectors to work together to deliver these projects which are urgent for our continent. The Lagos-Abidjan highway is very important to us because we are a trade finance bank.”
Speaking on behalf of the African Finance Corporation’s President and CEO, Samaila Zubairu, Senior Director Taiwo Adeniji said, “As a founding partner, the Africa Finance Corporation remains committed to the Africa Investment Forum, which continues to play a key role in catalysing projects on the continent. Given the acute infrastructure deficit in Africa, support for the Forum is essential to unlocking the substantial investments needed to fill this gap. »
Ambroise Fayolle, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank, represented EIB President Werner Hoyer. Mr. Fayolle said he was impressed but not surprised by the results of the boardrooms’ deliberations. He also said that the European Investment Bank had launched a new arm, EIB Global. He said, “EIB Global wants to do more investment projects in Africa. It will strengthen engagement, partnerships and new investments across Africa, and we are very happy to do so with the optimism that I have heard tonight. »
Adesina thanked the partners and participants. “The Africa Investment Forum’s virtual investment boardrooms have delivered for Africa. Let us now turn our gaze to the Africa Investment Forum 2022 Market Days which will take place face-to-face in Abidjan from November 2-4, 2022. But while we prepare for this event, let’s keep doing business. »
The eight founding partners of the Africa Investment Forum are: the African Development Bank, its host; Africa 50; the African Finance Corporation; the African Export-Import Bank; the Development Bank of Southern Africa; the Trade and Development Bank; the European Investment Bank; and the Islamic Development Bank.