The African Development Bank and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) held a roadshow in Cairo to launch preparations for the second Africa Investment Forum taking place in Johannesburg, South Africa, 11 - 13 November 2019. The Africa Investment Forum aims to raise capital for transformational investment opportunities across Africa.
Addressing the roadshow, Dr. Sahar Nasr, Egypt's minister of investment and international cooperation, said that the Egyptian investment opportunities presented in the forum were in line with the political leadership of the country and with its development plans, which were related to renewable energy, infrastructure and transport sector. She said Egypt would do its best to ensure successful participation in this year's Forum. "The directives of President Abdelfattah Al-Sisi are clear, supporting the investment environment on the continent and providing financing for its development. Therefore, we are very proud of Egypt's investments in the African continent".
Ibrahim Sagna, director and global head of advisory and capital markets at Afreximbank, noted that Africa had witnessed significant trade and investment cooperation over the past two years. However, the forum was established to encourage a better uptake of the many unexploited investment opportunities.
Malinne Blomberg, the Bank's Egypt country manager, said, "For the forum we want to ensure the highest quality of projects that will contribute to transforming Africa and Egypt. We aim for markets to grow and for new markets to emerge".
Patrick McGee, the Bank's lead for investment relations for the Africa Investment Forum, noted that last year's forum attracted 2,000 participants and investors from dozens of countries and featured three major Egyptian investment opportunities worth about $11 billion..
The roadshow was also attended by Sherif El Gabaly, CEO of Enara Capital, and Pakinam Kafafi, CEO of TAQA Arabia, who shared their successful experiences at the inaugural forum, highlighting the networking opportunities it provided.
The objective of the Africa Investment Forum is to catalyse investments in the continent through a unique marketplace platform designed to advance projects to bankable stages, raise capital, and accelerate the financial closure of deals. The forum targets transactions above $30 million.
Now a true African platform for investment promotion, the first forum in 2018 secured investment interest for 49 projects worth $38.7 billion. Last year, 16 identified projects, valued at $19.45 billion across four North African countries, were included in the pipeline. The forum now has a digital platform which enables early access to a database of projects and encourages investors and project sponsors to begin engaging ahead of the second forum in November 2019.
The Cairo roadshow was also attended by several representatives of the private sector and government agencies involved in promoting investment and trade in Egypt and across Africa.
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