Africa Investment Forum 2023 Attracts ‘Astounding’ Level of Investment
On Wednesday 8 November 2023, the Africa Investment Forum 2023 (#AIF2023) kicked off in Marrakech. The theme of this 4th edition is ‘Unlocking Africa’s Value Chains.’ Since the first edition in 2018, the AIF Market Days side event has evolved into Africa’s premier business platform and has managed to mobilize USD 142 billion of #FDI into Africa.
Some 600 delegates attended the Forum, including heads of states or governments, top executives of Multilateral Development Banks (#MDB), CxO from private enterprises and representatives of civil society.
During his welcome remarks, the Moroccan King Mohammed VI pointed out that “Our continent is facing complex economic challenges exacerbated by geopolitical tensions beyond African borders.” In that difficult context, he urged African countries to strengthen cooperation and coordination in order to better address these challenges.
AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina concurred with King Mohammed by underscoring that ‘heightened geopolitical tensions and conflicts around the world have led to greater uncertainties and could weaken global economic growth.’
“African economies provide some of the best opportunities in the world. Do not believe my optimism, believe the data.”
AfDB President Ainwumi Adesina
On a positive note, he highlighted that African economies experienced an aggregate GDP growth of 3.8%, which is above the global average of 3.5%. He predicted that the six best performing African economies before the COVID pandemic are projected to climb back up into the world’s Top10 fastest growing economies by the end of financial year 2023-2024.
Indeed, the prospects for Africa look bright! By 2050, the population of Africa will reach 2.5 billion souls with one in four persons in the world being African. Currently, Africa also possesses a youth dividend with nearly half a billion persons between the ages of 15 and 25, providing both an energetic labor pool and a sizeable consumer market.
In line with the Forum’s theme, several keynote addresses and panel discussions delved into the subject matter of how Africa can play a greater role in Global Value Chains (#GVC). In that regard, Rwanda PM Edouard Ngirente reiterated the necessity to leverage Africa’s #CriticalMinerals for greater Local Value Addition (#LVA) and sustainable growth. Tanzanian President Samia Hassan underlined the urgent necessity to close #connectivity gaps in order to accelerate economic growth.
At the end of the 4th edition of AIF, President Adesina was proud to announce that the Forum has exceeded all expectations by successfully securing an astonishing USD 35 billion in new deals for Africa.