BY DAYO ADESULU
The increased and decisive investment will be the channel for Africa’s economic recovery post-COVID-19, partners of the Africa Investment Forum said on Friday, expressing confidence in the continent’s potential to rebound from the ongoing health and economic crises.
“Africa will come out of this pandemic, tough as it is, and will build better and stronger economies. As partners of the Africa Investment Forum, the premier investment platform for Africa, our gaze must be clear; help Africa reboot its economy,” said African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, during a two-day virtual meeting for Africa Investment Forum founding, institutional and knowledge partners.
In a virtual marketplace which mirrored typical sessions of its annual Market-Days, the Africa Investment Forum convened over 190 participants including current and prospective partners, investors and project sponsors. The Forum showcased its Unified COVID-19 Response and provided an update on its activities, as well as opportunities for new partners and investors to engage with the platform.
During the meeting, the Africa Investment Forum revealed 15 projects identified across five sectors for priority funding consideration under its Unified COVID-19 Response. The sectors include Agriculture & Agro-Processing, Energy, Health, ICT & Telecoms and Industrial & Trade. Collectively, these 15 deals which are from the Forum’s current portfolio, amount to $3.79 billion and will help increase the continent’s self-sufficiency and resilience against future shocks. Four projects sponsors were invited to pitch their deals to over 100 investors present at the meeting. These include a Dairy processing project in Angola, a vaccine manufacturing plant in Kenya, a cotton manufacturing project in Mozambique and a proprietary telemedicine platform in Nigeria.
Following the meeting, the Africa Investment Forum’s deal tracker mechanism was immediately deployed to capture investment interest and ensure effective investor-project matchmaking.
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The meeting took place as the Africa Investment Forum continues to build on the successes of its first two years in bringing to market deals with transformative potential for Africa’s development.
“The Africa Investment Forum is not a talk shop. What we are trying to do is to focus our Partner’s efforts on the platform’s bankable deals from the 2018 and 2019 portfolio, as well as some new ones in 2020,” said Chinelo Anohu, Head and Senior Director of the Africa Investment Forum. “We are concentrating not just on the health sector, but also on other sectors that will help jumpstart recovery across the continent,” she said, adding that deals “more responsive” to the pandemic are being curated, in order to provide much-needed support to the private sector.
Beyond Boardroom Sessions, the Africa Investment Forum continues to support project sponsors through its Deal Tracker mechanism which monitors the conversion of investment interests to financing commitments and facilitates the progress of deals towards financial close. So far, the forum has facilitated the closure of 8 deals valued at $2.18 billion from the 2018 portfolio.
The Africa Investment Forum, championed by the African Development Bank and its founding and institutional partners, is working to accelerate the closure of the continent’s investment gaps.
Founding Partners are the African Development Bank; Africa 50; Africa Finance Corporation; African Export-Import Bank; Development Bank of Southern Africa; Trade and Development Bank; European Investment Bank; and Islamic Development Bank.
Institutional partners include development finance institutions, multilateral development banks, commercial banks and institutional investors.
