Wednesday, November 3rd

16:30 - 17:45

 

*Note: Please meet in the green room 30min prior to the session start time to meet your fellow speakers and be mic’d up

About the Africa Investment Forum:

Africa Investment Forum 2022 is the continent’s largest transactional investment marketplace. It brings together deal sponsors, deal brokers and deal makers from around the world. This year’s Market Days event will be the first face-to-face gathering since 2019.

Launched in 2018 by the African Development Bank, AIF provides investors with access to a deal platform, offering bankable and de-risked projects with strong support from Africa’s leading development finance institutions.  It is this transactional focus that distinguishes AIF from other African business summits. In addition to the public plenaries and the panel sessions, there will be private boardrooms that focus on specific deals at the Market Days. 

Session Description: Mobilising Natural Capital - Africa’s Role in The Global Net-Zero Race

Finding a healthy balance between transitioning to non-carbon energy sources and improving overall access to energy is key to a Just Transition. In the run up to COP27 in Cairo, high-emitting Western countries will need to do more to ensure that African countries – most of which have contributed extremely little to the climate crisis yet are expected to bear the brunt of its impact – are brought into the fold and listened to as the world transitions to cleaner energy. In this session, panelists will discuss what a Just Transition looks like for Africa and discuss how to leverage more climate finance to support the development of climate-smart infrastructure across the continent.

Session Goals: 

1. Discuss Africa’s just energy transition, with a focus on the major financing gaps that need to be filled.
2. Discuss opportunities that exist to mobilize new finance and specific priority transactions
3. Identify climate-smart approaches in the continent’s key sectors and industries.

Session Format:

This is a 75-minute session, consisting of opening remarks from Samaila Zubairu, President, Africa Finance Corporation and a moderated panel discussion. 15 minutes will be reserved at the end for Audience Q&A. The panel will be one lively conversation with a moderator who knows the topic instead of a set of sequential monologues. Answers and interventions should be short and example-rich, with everyone speaking in sentences rather than paragraphs.  Long introductions will not be made for panelists as full bios and background information is available to the audience. 

Moderator:

1. Wole Famurewa, Anchor, CNBC Africa

Opening Remarks:

1. Samaila Zubairu, President, Africa Finance Corporation

Panelists:

1. Simon Hodson, CEO, Gridworks Partners
2. Linda Mabhena-Olagunju,  Founder and CEO, DLO Energy Resources Group

Questions for Discussion:

1. How can Africa attract a greater share of green financing? What are innovative products that can attract that capital?
2. What is the role of African DFIs in helping build a greener future?
3. How do African countries balance the need to generate more energy with the need to spur economic growth?
4. What are immediate investment opportunities you are seeing? Where are the greatest opportunities for climate-smart alternatives in key sectors and industries?