The annual Africa Investment Forum will take place this year from the 1st to the 3rd of December. It will be the be third edition of the forum since its inception in 2018 and following a 2020 postponement because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic and social disruptions brought on by it.
The Forum’s founding partners – The African Development Bank Group, Africa50, Afrexim Bank, the Africa Finance Corporation, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the European Investment Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Trade and Development Bank – established the platform as a mechanism to mobilize private resources from within and outside Africa to finance the continent’s development needs. They agreed that for too long, Africa had depended on unsustainable external benevolence for these resources.
The forum is an innovative results-oriented platform – a fully transactional partnership – whose goal is to raise capital and focus on high-impact deals.
Covid-19 exposed the global inter-dependence and common exposure to supranational risks like climate change, air pollution, disease, and financial vulnerabilities. The pandemic also highlighted the negative impact of inward facing nationalism, starkly demonstrated by the unwillingness of richer countries to provide a portion of the hundreds of millions of soon-to-expire stock-piled Covid-19 vaccines to vast populations in the developing world, including Africa.
The message has never been clearer – Africa must not outsource its healthcare security to the benevolence of others. The continent must drive its own growth, sustenance and independence by harnessing its bountiful resources.
Speaking at a panel at the University of Edinburgh Futures Conversations Series in October, Africa Investment Forum Senior Director Chinelo Anohu said: “We have the option not to be given vaccines but rather, to become development partners. Let us provide the vaccines by putting production plants on the continent. It is the only way we will have a sustainable solution.” Ms Anohu firmly believes that the Africa Investment Forum will catalyse Africa’s economic transformation and secure independence from unsustainable dependence on wealthier countries.
This year, as with previous editions, the Africa Investment Forum Market Days, as the three days of the forum are referred to, will bring together investors, project sponsors, transaction advisors, legal and other relevant professionals to bridge the continent’s investment gap. Several African heads of state and government attending the forum are also expected to make policy commitments.
The 2018 Market Days evaluated 63 deals valued at $46.9 billion and mobilized investment interests in 49 projects worth $38.7 billion across 24 countries. The 2019 edition featured 57 deals valued at $67.7 billion and successfully crowded in $40.1 billion of investment for 52 deals in 25 countries.
By the third quarter of 2021, the Africa Investment Forum project portfolio had closed 10 deals worth $3.12 billion. Seventy-eight active deals worth $ 79.36 billion further underscored the enormous investment opportunities on the continent.
This early success validates the belief of the Africa Investment Forum founding partners that the initiative was well worth their while. They believe that Africa’s sustainable development lies in advancing projects to bankability, raising capital, and accelerating the closure of deals. During the July 2020 unveiling of the Forum’s Unified Response to Covid-19 to support Africa’s private sector, 12 projects valued at $3.4 billion were canvassed. The projects included those in the sectors of agriculture and agro-processing, energy, health, ICT and telecommunications, and industry and trade.
This year’s forum theme: “Accelerating Transformative Investments in Africa” is anchored in the five investment sectors that received priority under the unified Covid-19 response.
One of the central objectives of the Africa Investment Forum is the reduction of intermediation costs and increased productive engagements between African governments and the private sector.
The Africa Investment Forum offers investors access to a structured platform with transformative bankable and de-risked deals that are at different stages of readiness.
The forum curates high growth opportunities that will play major roles in the continent’s recovery. Projects put forward for financing this year will include several women-led businesses in the tannery, textile, fisheries, and mobile healthcare sectors. Other investment sectors include dynamic creative and digital capacities.
The 2021 Africa Investment Forum will also showcase innovative models to finance digital infrastructure, unlock economic growth, create jobs, transfer skills and open new markets. Clearly, this is a recognition that the digital economy is center stage and that technology will continue to underpin the activities and processes of most public as well as private sector processes in coming years.
By bringing financial institutions around the same table to finance deals, the Africa Investment Forum is playing an important role in defining on its platform, common standards for delivery on critical aspects of the financing process. This includes standardization of due diligence and project preparation, as well as environmental and social impact assessments.
The Africa Investment Forum offers curated products –boardroom deals, business-to-business meetings, start-up pitching sessions, a deal gallery, and public sessions in virtual and in person sessions.