Africa Investment Forum 2024 Signs Up $30B in Deals
The Africa Investment Forum (#AIF2024) took place under the royal patronage of King Mohammed VI in Rabat, Morocco, from 4 to 6 December 2024. The theme for this year was “Leveraging Innovative Partnerships for Scale” and attracted more than 1,700 delegates from 83 countries. Japan distinguished itself by sending a 100-person delegation to the AIF2024.
During the opening plenary, AfDB Chair Dr Akinwumi Adesina called for more #FDI into Africa by recommending investors to ‘believe the data’ rather by getting swayed by certain preconceived ideas about the continent. Over the last 14 years, default rates on loans in Africa is only 1.9%, compared to 12.4% in Eastern Europe, 10.1% in Latin America, 6.6% in USA and 4.6% in Western Europe and Asia. He went on to deliver a string of strong statistics to reinforce his message.
“The demand for housing is expected to rise and make an investment opportunity of up to $1.4 trillion. The size of Africa’s food and agriculture market will rise to $1 trillion by 2030. Demand for infrastructure presents an annual investment opportunity of at least $170 billion a year in energy, transport, infrastructure, water and sanitation, and many more. Africa presents such a unique investment opportunity which cannot be ignored.”
AfDB Chair Akinwumi Adesina
According to a survey by Africa Private Equity Capital Association (APECA), 85% of its partners plan to increase their private capital investment into Africa within the next two years. In addition, 52% believe that Africa’s investment landscape will be more attractive than other regions within the next five years.
As as case in point, Africa is expected to be able to surf on the #EnergyTransition wave and move up the Electric Vehicle (EV) Global Value Chain (#GVC). The #EV Global Value Chain is projected to grow from USD 7 trillion in 2030 to USD 59 trillion by 2050. With its rich reserves of #CritcalMinerals necessary for #decarbonizaion, Africa has its goals firmly on getting a fair share of the global pie.
On her part, Moroccan Minister for Economy and Finance Nadia Alaoui commended the founding partners of the AIF. Despite the great progress made, she pointed out that much remains to be done to close the financing gap in order to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (#SDG) and the AU #Agenda2063. She also encouraged other Africa countries to forge stronger partnerships and to undertake much-needed reforms to enhance the #BusinessClimate in Africa.
“These reforms should be accompanied by measures to strengthen macroeconomic fundamentals and improve the business environment, which would ultimately change the perception of risk and break down historical prejudices about Africa so the financial potential of private actors can be fully exploited.”
Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Alaoui
Over the previous four editions of AIF, a cumulated investment intention worth USD 180 billion was registered. So far USD 30 billion of these transactions and started to materialize. This, year the #AIF2024 generated USD 29.5 billion in fresh investment pledges.
One of the largest and marquee deals is the USD 6 billion agreement between AfDB and Italy Insurance-Finance Group to provide credit protection and foster investment under the #MatteiPlan agreed at the Italy-Africa Summit (#IAS2024). As described by Italian PM Meloni, the Mattei Plan is mostly about creating an Energy Hub by exploiting the rich photovoltaic (#PV) resources of Northern Africa states.
Japan emphasized the application of innovation to boost the agricultural yield while promoting sustainable development in Africa. Even though many investors flock to Oil & Gas, Africa is central to the global #FoodSecurity and can potentially be the world’s breadbasket.
During the Forum, 41 investment projects worth nearly USD 40 billion were presented in a boardroom setting with promoters pitching deals to a targeted audience. Out of the 41 projects, 34 were investment-ready while 7 were still early-stage.
The investment projects cover a diverse number of sectors including infrastructure, transport, power/energy, agribusiness, manufacturing, mining, pharmaceuticals, tourism as well as water and sanitation.
The AIF is jointly organized by nine Development Finance Institutions (#DFI), namely, AfDB, Africa50, AfreximBAnk, IsDB, DBSA, EDI, TDB, BADEA and AFC. This year, the AIF welcomed the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (ABEDA) as a partner.