The Senior Director of the African Development Bank's Africa Investment Forum, Chinelo Anohu, praised the Biden administration's efforts to channel investment into Africa, and singled out Prosper Africa as illustrative of a deepening commitment to Africa.
Anohu took part in a virtual Africa Investment Roundtable that included U.S. House of representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Gregory W. Meeks; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Akunna Cook; VP of External Affairs at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, Algene Sajery; and Côte d'Ivoire's Minister of Investment Promotion and Private Sector Development, Emmanuel Essis. The roundtable took place on 15 February 2022.
Prosper Africa, a U.S. government business initiative, and Hardaway Wire, a political intelligence company, sponsored the roundtable, which provided U.S investors an opportunity to learn more about the investment and trade tools the U.S government offers. Prosper Africa, launched in 2019 across 17 U.S. agencies, provides U.S businesses and investors with market insights, deal support, financing, and solutions to strengthen business climates.
Cook said: "President Biden has made investing in Africa a priority as he--and his Administration--see the importance of global investment in all corners of the globe. We have made reducing both the perceived risk and actual risk of doing business in Africa a top priority at the State Department and Prosper Africa in order to facilitate the level of investment needed to support Africa's economic growth."
Highlighting Prosper Africa's whole-of-government approach, Ms. Marbury and senior transaction advisor Iman Kennerly provided an overview of its derisking mechanisms that are available to U.S. investors.
"Prosper Africa is a one-stop shop so companies don't have to spend valuable resources navigating Washington in order to do business," said Leslie Marbury, Acting Chief Operating Officer of Prosper Africa.
Since 2019, the U.S. Government has facilitated 107 energy, 75 agribusiness, 54 healthcare and 43 Information & Communication Technology deals across Africa, with a total export and investment value of $50 billion.
Essis outlined Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara's policies to attract investment in strategic sectors such as infrastructure, health, ICT and as well as the country's 2030 vision.
The Africa Investment Forum was launched in 2018 with eight founding partners: The African Development Bank; Africa 50; the Africa Finance Corporation; the African Export-Import Bank; the Development Bank of Southern Africa; the Trade and Development Bank; the European Investment Bank; and the Islamic Development Bank. The Africa Investment Forum works to channel investment into transformative projects in Africa.
The Africa Investment Forum in November 2019 signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Trade and Development Agency to support high-quality infrastructure solutions for Sub-Saharan Africa.
