Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire — On the sidelines of the 2018 Africa CEO Forum, taking place in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, the African Development Bank will host a special breakfast session on the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) - an initiative championed by the Bank to actively engage the private sector and to facilitate projects that have the capacity of transforming the continent.
The breakfast session "Africa Investment Forum - An Opportunity for Collaborative Leadership," will take place on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 and will be chaired by the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina. The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo Addo, and Naguib Sawiris, Chairman OTMT Investments, are among the high-level participants. Other speakers include Anta Babacar Ngom, CEO, Groupe Sedima, and Amadou Hott, Vice-President, Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth at the African Development Bank, alongside top government officials and industry leaders.
Adesina is leading a delegation of Senior Bank Management to this year's Africa CEO Forum, taking place from March 26-27 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The Bank has partnered with Jeune Afrique since 2012 in organizing the Forum, rated one of the most important international meetings bringing together African business leaders, investors and financial decision-makers from more than 70 countries, of which 40 are African.
The breakfast session, scheduled for 7:30-9am at Le Toit d'Abidjan at the Sofitel Hotel Ivoire, is the Bank's inaugural event to promote the launch of the Africa Investment Forum taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa, in November 2018. In addition to raising awareness on the AIF, the breakfast will enable a broader understanding of the key roles that governments, multilateral institutions and the private sector can play in accelerating Africa's investment opportunities. It will also create a platform for dialogue between the parties to address the opportunities and challenges of attracting private capital to the continent.
Recent research by the African Development Bank (AfDB) reveals that Africa's infrastructure requirements amount to US $130-$170 billion a year. To address these challenges, the African Development Bank is championing the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) as a platform to actively engage the private sector and to facilitate projects that have the capacity to transform the continent. AIF is designed to enhance private-sector cooperation and drive investment in sectors of strategic interest within Africa.
Key global companies, financial players, and public officials, will be invited to the Africa Investment Forum in November 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa, to source funding for bankable projects, broker infrastructure deals, provide innovative financial solutions, and collectively address the continent's critical infrastructure investment needs.
During the Africa CEO Forum, President Adesina is participating in the opening plenary session on "Tech revolutions: widening gap or leapfrog opportunity" on Monday, March 26, from 9:00-10:30am. The Bank's Vice-President, Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization, Pierre Guislain, will also speak at two sessions: a "Roundtable on Governments as enablers: How government stakeholders can boost a digital economy" on Monday, March 26 and a parallel session on "How to Turn African aviation into a success story in ten years" on Tuesday, March 27.
For more information on the Africa CEO Forum: http://www.theafricaceoforum.com
