A group of African investors gathered at African Export-Import Bank's head office in Cairo, Egypt, on November 14 to mobilise local investors and business leaders ahead of the Africa Investment Forum's Market Days event scheduled for December 4-6 in Rabat, Morocco.
The Africa Investment Forum, an initiative of the African Development Bank Group and eight other founding partners, is a platform that advances projects to bankability, raises capital, and accelerates transactions to financial closure, with the aim of bridging the continent's investment gaps.
Jointly organised by the African Development Bank and Afreximbank, the roadshow offered representatives of government authorities, local commercial banks, investment banks, economic zone authorities, and private equity funds a preview of Market Days, the centerpiece of the Africa Investment Forum.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Yacine Fal, Special Representative of the African Development Bank's President to the Africa Investment Forum, highlighted the platform's importance in attracting global capital to the continent. With a portfolio value exceeding $243 billion, it has established itself as a world-class financing platform, she said.
Zitto Alfayo, Afreximbank's Head of Project Preparation, spoke on behalf of Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank's Executive Vice President for Intra Africa Trade and Export Development. He emphasized that the Africa Investment Forum has effectively mobilized significant investment commitments across the continent by leveraging the collective strengths of its partners. Afreximbank, working alongside the other Founding Partners, is committed to supporting development and implementation of transformative projects along the continent's trade corridors to advance the goals of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement.
Cedric Mbeng, a Private Sector Investment Lead with the African Development Bank presented an overview of the Africa Investment Forum as well as a deep dive into the upcoming Market Days, where more than 40 deals valued at more than $50 billion and representing more than 22 countries have entered the AIF 2024 Pipeline.
A representative of CIAF Leasing, an Egypt-based aviation company that took part in the 2019 Market Days, described a successful experience securing $45 million in debt financing through participation in a boardroom session that year. The company achieved financial closure in 2023. Market Days boardroom sessions streamline the investment process by connecting bankable projects with capital from commercial banks, institutional investors, and other sources of financing to enable direct negotiations and deal-closing.
The Africa Investment Forum reduces intermediation and transaction costs, improves the quality and volume of bankable projects, and reduces the risk perception surrounding investing in African ventures, said Mr. Samuel Moguya, Advisor to the African Development Bank's Vice President for the Private Sector, Infrastructure, and Industrialization, Solomon Quaynor.
The Africa Investment Forum is an initiative of the African Development Bank and eight other founding partners: Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation, Africa50, Development Bank of Southern Africa, European Investment Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Trade and Development Bank and the Arab Fund for African Development (BADEA).
