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More than US$100 billion (over 66,000 billion CFA francs) of transactional deals are expected to be concluded during the forum, organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB), in collaboration with Cote d’Ivoire.
The opening of the meeting was attended by three heads of state, including Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo, Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, Ethiopia’s Sahle-Work Zewde, heads of government, donors and project designers.
Opening the 2022 edition of the Africa Investment Forum, the Ivorian Vice President, Meyliet Tiémoko Kone, noted that African countries are experiencing external shocks due to the crises caused by Covid-19 and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
This, he said, has led to heavy economic, financial and social consequences.
In addition, African states are suffering the effects of rising oil and freight costs with difficulties in the supply of basic commodities.
“The presence of heads of state and government at this meeting, alongside various African and international investors, is proof of our determination to create together an economic environment conducive to the realization of investments needed to accelerate the transformation of the African continent,” he added.
“After the first two editions, which identified a portfolio of transactions of US$46.9 billion and US$67.7 billion respectively, we hope to cross the US$100 billion mark during this 3rd edition,” said Mr. Meyliet Kone.
“The Africa Investment Forum is generating extraordinary investments for Africa. In four years, since the beginning of the Forum in 2018, it has mobilized US$110 billion in investment interest for Africa,” AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina said.
“We are making transformational agreements and deals,” Adesina said, referring to “the US$600 million securitized financing to support the Ghana Cocoa Board, (which) has helped Ghana increase its cocoa production by one million metric tons, with cocoa storage and processing infrastructure” he added.
Ghana’s President, Nana Akufo-Addo, sent a message to investors, saying that it was true that there are difficulties and constraints, but there are opportunities to be seized and Africa represents a great demographic dividend that should be taken into consideration.
His Ethiopian counterpart, Mrs. Sahle-Work Zewde, called for a change in the way Africa is viewed as a continent of hunger and poverty, noting that the story is changing in terms of investment and economic development.
The 2022 edition of the Africa Investment Forum, which takes place from November 2 to 4 on the shores of the Ebrie Lagoon, comes after the 2018 and 2019 editions in South Africa.
These three editions were face-to-face interactions, according to the organizers who indicate that an online meeting took place during the Covid-19 crisis.
AP/fss/as/APA
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