AFDB Entices Investors With $58bn Lucrative African Projects

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Meet African Development Bank’s New Executive Directors, Including Five Women
Meet African Development Bank’s New Executive Directors, Including Five Women

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is enticing investors looking for high returns and social impact with 42 bankable deals in Africa worth $58 billion.

This was revealed yesterday by Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the AfDB Group, during the opening ceremony of the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) virtual Boardroom Session 2022, where he said the investment opportunities included a “$15.6 billion transport corridor that will link Lagos to Cotonu-Lome-Accra and Ivory Coast, and a $140 million film academy in Nigeria.”

Akinwumi stated that projects in key priority sectors identified in the AIF’s 2020 Unified Response to COVID-19 initiative would be featured in the boardrooms.

He identified these sectors as agriculture and agro-processing, education, energy and climate, healthcare, minerals and mining, information and communications technology and telecommunication, and industrialisation and trade.

“Today, we have curetted 42 project deals with a total value of $58 billion for you,” he added. There are a variety of investment opportunities. A $247 million special agroindustrial processing zone in northern Ivory Coast is among them. They include a $3.3 billion East Africa railway corridor connecting Tanzania with Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

“Among them are healthcare projects aimed at creating a cutting-edge Accra medical city.” A digital health transaction and a fund to support universal healthcare for low-income patients are among them.

They include a $545 million mine project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which will be critical for the global electric vehicle industry.

“In Nigeria, we have a $140 million film academy.” And there are $5 billion in deals in women-led businesses. When women sin, Africa triumphs. There are numerous others. The stakes are extremely high. “The transactions are complete.”

He described the AIF as a multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary platform designed to bring private and public-private partnership projects to the bankable stage. It also raises capital and expedites the completion of transactions.

“The AIF serves as a bridge between the public and private sectors, connecting project sponsors, investors, and financiers.” It assists in mitigating investor risk by deploying derisk guarantees such as partial risk guarantees and partial credit guarantees to reduce investment risks.

“It is a one-of-a-kind transaction platform where deals are done.” “It is Africa’s premier investment market, where the AfDB and its partners advance projects to bankable stages, raise capital, and accelerate deals to financial closure,” Adesina explained.

He stated that the COVID-19 outbreak prevented the AIF from taking place in 2020 and 2021, which were postponed for everyone’s health, and that the pandemic affected investment flows into Africa.

According to the UNCTAD investment trend monitor, foreign direct investment inflows to Africa fell by 28% in the first quarter of 2020, and by the end of the third quarter of the same year, investments in greenfield projects had dropped by 66%, while cross-border mergers and acquisitions had increased.

“Africa remains the place to invest for investors seeking high returns while having a positive social impact.” That’s why I’m overjoyed that we have 300 investors from all over the world. Your participation demonstrates that you see opportunities in Africa that cannot be overlooked.

“The AIF is a one-of-a-kind transaction platform where deals are done.” It is Africa’s premier investment market, where the AfDB and its partners advance projects to bankable stages, raise capital, and speed up deal closing.”

 

The AIF is an AfDB initiative with founding partners Africa 50, the Africa 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.