Investors show interest in $40.1bn investments in Africa

A total of $40.1 billion projects and investments across Africa have caught the attention of institutional investors, President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has said.

Dr Adesina, who disclosed this at the closing ceremony of the second Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg, South that Africa on Wednesday, added about 52 deals worth $40.1bn secured investors’ interest compared with $37.8bn secured last year.

Daily Trust reports that during the 2018 edition of the Forum, 61 transactions valued at $46.9bn were tabled for discussions in boardroom sessions and 49 deals worth $38.7bn secured investment interest.

Presiding over the session, ‘Unveiling the Boardroom Deals’, Dr Adesina said that was the spirit of the Africa Investment Forum: “transactions, transactions, transactions. Deals, deals, deals!”

Over 2,221 participants attended this year’s forum from 109 countries - 48 from Africa and 61 from outside of Africa. They came from government, private sector, development finance institutions, commercial banks and institutional investors.

“The Forum is a platform that will change Africa’s investment landscape,” Chinelo Anohu, the Forum’s Senior Director said.

“Africa is ready to engage on its own terms,” she added.

Key moments of the Forum included a $600 million COCOBOD deal for Ghana, for cocoa processing, warehousing and processing; $58 million for the Alithea Identity Fund for women, and a concession agreement for the Accra Sky Train, worth $2.6 billion

The forum focused on projects and advancing deals spanning several sectors, including energy, infrastructure, transport and utilities, industry, agriculture, ICT and telecoms.

“Now the hard work begins to fast-track these deals to financial closure… Africa is bankable,” Adesina said.