The Senior Director of the Africa Investment Forum, Ms Chinelo Anohu, and members of the African Development Bank’s senior management team led by Senior Vice President, Swazi Tshabalala, met with United States Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves and his delegation during a working visit to Abidjan.
A key element of the discussions was greater engagement between the US government, the private sector and the African Development Bank, through the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), set up as a premier investment marketplace to accelerate transactions to close Africa’s investment gaps.
As the United States looks to harness the potential of Africa’s private sector through long-term partnerships, the AIF platform will be key. Together with its founding partners, the AIF is working to identify and remove transaction bottlenecks, while crowding in innovative financing, such as family businesses, venture capital and other investments to move deals from concept stage to bankability.
During the meeting, Anohu highlighted the importance of the creative industry as an emerging sector, pointing to the natural advantage that the continent has in this area.
The AIF has multiple projects in the creative industry and is working to remove the bureaucracy and associated challenges in the sector, she said. Steps being taken include financing and training fledgling entrepreneurs, to create an enabling environment for the private sector to help Africa jump-start these innovations.
“We recognize that these asks vary. We attack the bottlenecks,” Anohu said.
Anohu also outlined AIF’s incubated transactions in the renewable energy field and how best to leverage the 2X Women’s Initiative, led by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Through its Women as Investment Champions initiative, the AIF is spearheading projects that are owned by women, led by women, or provide a product or service that empowers women. Former Liberian President and DFC International Advisory Board Member, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has hailed AIF’s work in this area as transformative.
There is much synergy between the interests of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the AIF, as both are focused on accelerating private sector development, particularly in infrastructure, healthcare, women-owned business, and energy security.
Collaboration between the AIF and the U.S. remains strong. Last November, the AIF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), aimed at advancing the goals of the Biden-Harris administration, including the Build Back Better and the Prosper Africa initiatives, supporting infrastructure projects. In February 2022, United States Congressman Gregory Meeks, who is also Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a team of congressional colleagues met with AfDB Group President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina and several senior Bank officials.
In March 2022, the USTDA and the DFC participated in AIF Virtual Boardrooms, with a focus on providing grant-based funding for activities such as feasibility studies. Soon after the boardroom sessions, Anohu attended several productive interagency meetings in Washington DC, where the various US agencies were all united in their quest to ensure that their interventions on the African continent were impactful and result oriented. In May 2022, the U.S. Department of Commerce was represented at the recent AIF Investment Roundtable, held on the sidelines of the African Development Bank Group’s Annual Meetings.
Opportunities to further integrate the Africa Investment Forum into the U.S.- African strategy abound. In the coming months, President Biden will convene leaders from across the African continent for the second U.S. – Africa Leaders Summit, providing opportunities to further develop the AIF’s relationship with the U.S. government entities, policymakers, and stakeholders. High-level US government and private sector participation is expected at the AIF 2022 Market Days, where tangible agreements will be reached and transformative transactions closed.
AIF is an initiative of the African Development Bank and seven partner institutions: Africa 50, Africa Finance Corporation, Afreximbank, Development Bank of Southern Africa, European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank and Trade and Development Bank.
