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Plenary Session: Food Security: How can Africa build Self-Sufficiency?

Plenary Session: Food Security: How can Africa build Self-Sufficiency?

Thursday, November 3rd
9:00 - 10:30

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

About the Africa Investment Forum:

Africa Investment Forum 2022 is the continent’s largest transactional investment marketplace. It will bring 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: Food Security: How can Africa build Self-Sufficiency?

The most visible impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Africa has been the surge in food and fuel prices, as well as trade disruption, inflation, and broader financial instability. The continent imports about 85% of its food (USD 35 billion) annually and is expected to import USD 110 billion by 2025. COVID-19 further exacerbated this issue, with food access issues pushing more people into food insecurity. A looming recession will only intensify the pressure. How is food insecurity impeding human capital and socio-economic development? What must be done to ensure the continent escapes chronic food insecurity, bolsters food systems, and becomes sustainably food self-sufficient? How can investors successfully invest in agriculture and agribusiness? What will it take for Africa to become a net food exporter?

Session Goals: 

  1. Outline the magnitude of Africa’s food security challenge.
  2. Share experiences investing in agriculture and agribusiness.
  3. Discuss how COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine worsened the continent’s food crisis but has also opened up opportunities for a shift in global food and fertilizer supply chains.
  4. Share possible public- and private-sector driven food security solutions.

Session Format:

This is a 90-minute session, consisting of opening remarks from M. Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani, Minister of State, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cote d’Ivoire, and Dr. Patrick Verkooijen, CEO, Global Center on Adaptation, 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. 

Opening Remarks:

  1. Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani, Minister of State, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Cote d’Ivoire
  2. Patrick Verkooijen, CEO, Global Center on Adaptation

Moderator:

  1. Carol Pineau, filmmaker and journalist

Panelists:

  1. Serge Ekue, President of the West African Development. Bank (BOAD)
  2. Mostafa Terrab, OCP
  3. Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, United Nations Assistant Secretary General (ASG) and Group Director General African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group
  4. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO ITFC & Ag. CEO ICD, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group
  5. Ikenna Nzewi, CEO, Releaf

Questions for Discussion:

  1. What is the role of African DFIs in investing in and prioritizing food security?
  2. To what extent has COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine worsened the continent’s food crisis? What opportunities have opened up as a result?
  3. How can fertilizer supply chains be built in African markets? What kind of investments need to be made in infrastructure? What kind of market linkages need to be made between farmers and input producers?
  4. Where is investment most lacking in the continent and the international community’s response to the food security crisis?
  5. What are examples of public- and private-sector driven food security solutions that are working?
  6. How can technology improve productivity in African agriculture?