The Africa Investment Forum kicked off its 2024 Market Days in Rabat, Morocco, with leaders highlighting the continent's bankability and readiness for investment.
In her welcoming remarks, Morocco's Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah Alaoui told more than 1,000 delegates that this year's Forum was a critical moment for creating a prosperous Africa: "The long-awaited rise of our continent rests on securing financing and we must act collectively to achieve this".
She further emphasized: "I'm deeply convinced that the Africa Investment Forum 2024 will be a privileged opportunity to enrich our common reflection, explore innovative solutions to persistent challenges, while strengthening the strong partnerships to make our aspirations a reality."
The president of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, chairman of the Africa Investment Forum, said capital must be deployed to meet opportunities. "I am fully convinced that the accelerated development of Africa requires greater mobilization of private capital."
Under the theme "Leveraging innovative partnerships to scale up," this year's Market Days event brings together over 500 business leaders and SMEs to discuss why Africa, with 39% of the world's population under the age of 20 and a market of 2.5 billion consumers by 2050, is the place to invest today and in the future.
Adesina announced that $15 billion in deals have already been originated this year, with 41 boardrooms ready for follow-up discussions on diverse African investment opportunities spanning mining, water and sanitation, food and agriculture, renewable energy and transportation and seaports.
"The theme of this Africa Investment Forum is leveraging at scale. It's about how to make things happen at scale for Africa," Adesina said. "Africa doesn't have time for Mickey Mouse investments, we need investment at scale. We must make room for capital to be deployed to meet opportunities in Africa. At the Africa Investment Forum, this is the driving principle that brought us together as founding members."
The forum is an initiative of nine development finance institutions--the African Development Bank, Africa50, Afreximbank, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Islamic Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, Trade and Development Bank the Africa Finance Corporation, and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa.
A prime example of the collaborative partnership by the Forum's founding partners is the Lobito Corridor in Angola, a $10 billion infrastructure project featuring rail, road, bridges, telecommunications, energy, and agribusiness developments. Key project partners include the African Development Bank which committed about $500 million, Africa Finance Corporation, serving as overall Project Developer and the Development Bank of Southern Africa which leads the first project phase. The corridor will create thousands of jobs and facilitate regional integration across Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia. The United States and the European Commission are among global partners who signed a Memorandum of Understanding in October 2023 to mobilise resources for the Lobito Corridor.
Highlighting Africa's mineral potential, he noted that the continent possesses 90% of the world's platinum, 95% of its chromium, and two-thirds of global cobalt.
"With 30% of the world's lithium Africa is a key part of the Electric Vehicle market. This $7 billion market will grow to $59 billion by 2050. With strategic investment, Africa can become a great energy hub for the world," he added.
Citing an Asset Managers' survey, Adesina revealed that 85% of managers expect to increase private capital allocation to Africa, while 52% anticipate Africa's private capital becoming more attractive in the next five years.
"Our focus is on a triple mandate, to advance high-impact projects to bankability, raise capital and accelerate the closure of deals. By focusing on investment facilitation for Africa, the Africa Investment Forum has become the premier investment platform for Africa," Adesina said.
Since its inception in 2018, the Africa Investment Forum has generated $180 billion of investor interests and closed transactions worth $30 billion.
During a panel discussion, representatives of the founding partners shared practical cases of projects their respective institutions have engaged in through partnership with private entities and governments.
With three days of market days now underway in Rabat, Adesina's rallying cry resonates:
"Africa is bankable - let the deals begin!"
