- AfDB To Seal $67bn Investments For Africa
The President, African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina has disclosed that investment worth $67 billion would be sealed at the second edition of the African Investment Forum.
The African Investment Forum kicked off on Monday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Meanwhile, the expected $67 billion worth of deals is $24 billion higher than the $43 billion projects that the first edition of the forum opened with, in November 2018.
The 2018 forum ended with $37 billion worth of deals, in Which Nigeria accounted for $7 billion transactions.
Speaking on the participants at the Forum, the AfDB President said 2,086 participants were drawn from 109 countries across the world. He added that 61 of the participating countries were not from Africa.
Adesina further disclosed that 59 transactions across several sectors, including energy, sanitation, water, infrastructure, agribusiness, private equity funds and ICT development, are expected to be sealed within the three-day duration of the forum.
He also hinted that investments were expected to happen in 29 countries that had submitted projects.
Adesina said, “We are trying to make sure that investments go into low-income and fragile states.”
The AfDB boss, giving a regional analysis of expected deals, said $36 billion were located in Southern Africa; $14 billion in Central Africa; $10.5 billion in West Africa; $2.6 billion in North Africa, and $1.3 billion in East Africa.
Adesina named a South African company, Telo DB, as the champion company for investment deals within the forum.
The AfDB boss further expressed concerns that much attention is not giving to agriculture in the continent, noting that agriculture is
According to him, agriculture is big business, noting that AfDB would invest $25 billion in the sector in the next 10 years, because of the special place agriculture should occupy in the continent.
He added: “We will work with our partners to syndicate more and leverage capital. Together, through the Africa Investment Forum, we will speed up the development of bankable projects, secure financing, and accelerate financial close for projects.”
