Africa doesn’t have time for mickey-mouse, only large-scale investments – AfDB president

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, Chairman of the Board of the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) Market Days, says Africa is interested in transformational investments to better the lives of its people.

“As far as I’m concerned, the only thing that matters in Africa is what we do big time. Africa doesn’t have time for Mickey Mouse investment. Africa must do big, at scale,” he said.

Dr. Adesina, who is also the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), said this at a press briefing at the 2024 AIF Market Days in Rabat, Morocco, urging governments and investors to deepen partnerships.

He stated that governments across the continent, together with regional and global investors, were utilizing their energies through stronger synergies to attract, retain, and grow capital in Africa.

“The focus is how to make things happen in Africa together through global, regional, financial, and investment partnerships. All of those directed at making things happen for Africa at scale,” he said.

He noted that just as in Africa, globally, the challenge had not been the unavailability of capital but its derisking to attract the needed investment at scale, something that AfDB and its partners were doing.

On the part of AfDB, Dr. Adesina said they were implementing various initiatives to derisk the investment environment, mobilize more capital, and accelerate financial closure for projects on the continent.

“Collectively, the AIF partners have originated deals of about US$50 billion among ourselves… we hope to get investors and enrich the conversations with a lot more investments of deal-making,” he stated.

Mr. Alain Ebobissé, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Africa50, also said that the AIF as a platform was to ensure that institutional partners work closely in a faster way and accelerate project implementation.

He explained that the AIF did not only bring on board projects but also provided partners the opportunity to put pressure on all the stakeholders to deliver to the final milestone, particularly the financial clauses associated with the projects.

“There are also innovative transactions that we leverage the collective power of the AIF to get them moving. For example, this year, we’ll be bringing one of the first power transmission public-private partnerships (PPPs) in Africa at AIF,” said Mr. Ebobissé.

Ms. Boitumelo Mosako, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), also stated that amidst the challenges and complexities, they were leveraging the AIF to collaborate and continue to meet the development needs of Africans.

“It is a platform of action; very intentional in its nature and continues to be refined. What is key here is scale, and we’ve brought transactions from South Africa across various sectors, including water, energy, and logistics sectors,” she said.

The 2024 AIF Market Days are being attended by over 2,300 participants from 83 countries, including 1,707 investors from more than 200 institutions across the globe.

Focus project areas for investment at the forum include mining, renewable energy, food and agriculture, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals, water, and sanitation.

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