Johannesburg, Nov.
12, GNA – More than $68 billion in investment projects are under discussion at
the Second Africa Investment Forum, which opened in Johannesburg on Monday, Dr
Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the Africa Development Bank, has said.
Speaking at the
opening press conference of the forum, Dr Adesina said deals covering sectors
such as energy, agribusiness, ICT, housing, telecoms and health were under
consideration.
He reiterated the
African Development Bank’s commitment to equitable distribution of investment,
saying the bank was not scared about investment in any country, especially the
fragile and low income Sahelian countries.
The bank’s role, he
said, was to ensure that investment went to every country irrespective of the
status and the level of economic development, adding that the bank was at the
forefront of pooling resources both capital and finance for all countries.
In this direction,
the African Development Bank is working with partners for a 10,000 megawatts
solar project for the countries in the Sahelian region.
The bank has also
doubled its commitment to climate change to 25 billion dollars with half of the
funds going for climate adaptation rather than mitigation.
Dr Adesina said the
AfDB emphasis was to ensure that Africa lead the world on renewable energy.
Earlier at the
opening ceremony attended by President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa;
President Nana Akufo Addo of Ghana; President Paul Kagame of Rwanda; and Prime
Minister Agostinho do Rosario of Mozambique, President Ramaphosa said the time
was now for the continent to move forward.
“The time is now to
move with speed to ensure that we unlock our potential…Indeed our continent is
ripe for investments, but more importantly, it is also brimming with enormous
profitable opportunities,” President Ramaphosa said in his address, as he urged
investors to move beyond pledges.
The Africa
Investment Forum is an innovative, multi-stakeholder transactional marketplace
conceived by the African Development Bank, aimed at raising capital, advancing
projects to the bankable stage, and accelerating financial closure of deals.
“As the investor
community, your presence here shows your unwavering will to help us and support
us to succeed. I invite you, therefore, to join us as we pass the flickering
torch of progress across every border of this great continent until the light
of development and economic prosperity illuminates every African village, every
African town, every African city, in every African household.” he said.
The inaugural Africa
Investment Forum secured investment interests for deals valued at $38.7 billion
in less than 72 hours. “A lot of progress has been made on these investment
interests,” with a highly dedicated team of partners working around the clock
to accelerate financial closure for transactions,” African Development Bank
President Akinwuni Adesina said.
Another transaction
tabled last year – a $600 million transaction for COCOBOD to help improve
processing and value addition for cocoa – has also reached financial close, and
will be signed during this edition of the Forum.
Similarly, South
Africa’s $350 beef agroprocessing project has reached financial close.
“Promise made,
promise kept,” said Dr Adesina.
“It is a new, more
confident Africa. A continent now aware of its place in the world and determined
to be a global investment haven. And Africa is harnessing investors’ interests
and investments. Welcome to the Africa Investment Forum, the place to be for
investors,” he said.
The Africa
Investment Forum inaugural edition was launched in 2018 in partnership with
Africa50, Afrexim Bank, the Trade Development Bank, the Development Bank of
South
GNA
