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Rwanda’s government and the African Development Bank (AfDB have signed a US$269 million loan deal to finance Rwanda’s power projects of improving electricity supply in the country. CNBC Africa filed this report.

Rwanda secures $269mn loan to improve electricity supply

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This November, at the first ever Africa Investment Forum, the African Development Bank plans to unveil about 120 billion dollars’ worth of bankable projects on the continent; Toyin Sanni, Group CEO of Emerging Africa Capital joins CNBC Africa to discuss what to expect at this forum.

AfDB plans to unveil billion dollars’ worth of bankable projects

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President of the African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina says being recognised by the Nigerian Defence Academy is an inspiration for him to do more. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Kenneth Igbomor caught up with him at the 29th convocation ceremony of the Nigerian Defence Academy where he received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Management Sciences.

Adesina bags honorary degree from Nigerian defence academy

Press Release
African Development Bank seeks partnerships to lift 1 billion people out of hunger globally 
“We must not get carried away: we are not winning the war against global hunger” 
INDIANAPOLIS, United States of America, September 26, 2018/ &#8212; The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) called on global partners to join hands to lift one billion people worldwide out of hunger and said it was leading the way by investing US$24 billion in African agriculture over the next 10 years in the largest such effort ever.
“We are not winning the war against global hunger,” Bank President Akinwumi Adesina told an agriculture conference at Purdue University in Indianapolis on Tuesday, 25 September.
“We must not get carried away,” he added, referring to statistics showing a decline in the global population living on less than two dollars per day. In reality, the number of hungry people in the world had increased from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016, he said citing the latest World Food Security and Nutrition data.
Adesina told the audience that included researchers, implementing organizations, business leaders, policymakers and donors that simple technical and scientific methods were already making a whole difference to farm yields and income in Africa. While such technologies to deliver Africa’s green revolution exist, they are mostly just sitting on the shelves, he said.
“The release of water efficient maize varieties now allows farmers to harvest good yields in the face of moderate drought,” he noted. “Today, rice varieties exist that can give yields of 8 tonnes per ha. Cassava varieties exist with yields of up to 80 tonnes per ha. Heat tolerant and disease resistant livestock and technologies for ramping up aquaculture exist.”
Bank experts put current comparative yields at 1.5-2 tonnes per ha for rice and 10-15 tonnes per ha for cassava.
What was needed urgently was deployment of supportive policies to ensure technologies are cascaded down to millions of farmers. “All Africa needs to do is to harness the available technologies with the right policies and rapidly raise agricultural productivity and incomes for farmers and assure lower food prices for consumers.”
The Bank has launched its Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), a $1 billion initiative to extend the use of farm technologies. TAAT is currently engaging seed companies, public and private entities, and financial institutions in 27 countries to make technology available to a total of 40 million African farmers.
Combining targeted subsidies for farmers with a market-based system for rapidly expanding access to financing for farmers and agricultural value chains is the fastest way to get many people out of poverty to a sustained pathway for economic growth, Adesina added.
The conference on “ Scaling Up Agricultural Technologies for Transformation” (http://bit.ly/2NK3XL5) marked Adesina’s fond return to his alma mater.
“It was here, as a graduate student, that I began the journey of searching for ways to get technologies into the hands of millions of farmers,” he said. Adesina was to go on to make a huge impact on the transformation of agriculture in Africa, including implementing game-changing policies in his years as Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development before taking up his post at the Bank in September 2015.
Adesina said the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa needed particularly urgent intervention due to the ravages of climate change. The International Food Policy Research Institute estimates that Africa will add 38 million to its number of hungry people by 2050 as a result of climate change. The Institute forecasts that Africa will experience major food shortages by 2020 and beyond, while malnutrition will be on the rise over the next 20 years.
The Bank’s ongoing initiatives had the objectives of growing income for farmers, stabilizing prices for staple crops, reducing losses and stimulating multiplier effects in local economies. With its Staple Crop Processing Zones and other initiatives, the Bank is demonstrating how this can be done.
“The African Development Bank put feeding Africa as one of its topmost priorities when it launched its Feed Africa strategy (http://bit.ly/2Q7A04c) in 2015 and is investing $ 24 billion in agriculture for Africa over 10 years – the largest ever such effort,” the Bank President said. Across Africa, the Feed Africa Strategy (http://bit.ly/2Q9GnUv) is supporting the development of policies, markets, infrastructure and institutions that will ensure that agricultural value chains are well developed and that technologies reach several millions of farmers.
Adesina called for global partnerships to establish Staple Crop Processing Zones across Africa.
“The SCPZs will provide several advantages for rural economies. They will create markets for farm produce. Raw materials will no longer be moved out of rural areas, but as finished value-added products. Post-harvest losses will be substantially reduced. Well integrated agricultural value chains will develop, with supportive logistics, especially warehousing and cold chains,” Adesina added.
The African Development Bank has already started investments to develop these SCPZs in a number of pioneering African countries, including Ethiopia, Togo, Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique. It expects the processing zones to be active in about 15 countries in the near-term.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Development Bank Group (AfDB).

AfDB seeks partnerships to lift 1 billion people out of hunger globally

By Karen Mwendera and Methil Renuka from Forbes Africa
From November 7-9, Africa Inc. will convene in South Africa’s Gauteng Province, the continent’s seventh largest economy, for the inaugural Africa Investment Forum (AIF).
An initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB), it was announced in May in Johannesburg by AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina with Gauteng premier David Makhura.
“It will be the continent’s first-ever investment market place,” said Adesina, formerly Nigeria’s minister of agriculture.
“South Africa is open for business again, and as Gauteng, we are ready to host the forum on behalf of not only South Africa, but for Africa,” said Makhura, calling the forum “the Davos of Africa”.
A platform to close the investment gap, Adesina called it a game-changing initiative.
READ MORE: The Investment Hotspot
“It cannot be business as usual, it must be business unusual,” he said.
With Africa’s population set to be two billion by 2050, its development needs will require an estimated $600-$700 billion per annum. So accelerated development will be the forum’s focus.
“The forum will be 100% transactional. There will be no political speeches. The only thing allowed will be transactions, transactions and transactions,” said Adesina. In attendance in November will also be African heads of state who will be present as the CEOs of their countries.
In a sit-down interview with FORBES AFRICA, the AfDB president shared more about new investments, and the bread baskets and Silicon Valleys of Africa:
How will AIF take Afro-optimism and the African growth story further? 
African economies have been growing relatively well in a very difficult global environment. Despite the global economic downturn, in 2016, they grew at roughly 2.2%; in 2017, they grew at 3.6%. In 2018, they are projected to grow at 4.1%. And that’s still above the global average.
So Africa’s head is above the water. But it’s more than about keeping your head above the water that matters, it is about how fast you can swim. I think Africa needs to swim fast and needs a lot of oxygen to do that. And that means a lot of firepower in terms of capital to close the infrastructure gap. To be able to drive millions of people out of poverty, Africa should be growing at double digits.
To be able to do that we have to deal with the problem of lack of electricity, make sure there is a lot more investment to allow trade to happen. Africa could contribute a lot more be it is rail, ports, national highways or aviation. It has to change lives on the ground and quiet honestly when people ask if I am an Afro-optimist, I am a very proud African. Africa is a beautiful place and has tremendous potential so we shouldn’t always just talk about the potential because nobody eats potential. We have to unlock that potential. So that is what the Africa Investment Forum is all about. Be it oil, gas, minerals or agricultural commodities, Africa is awash with rich resources.
The question is how to turn them into real dividends with significant amounts of revenue that allows a better quality of life for the people. For that, you need to deal with the infrastructure deficit. We used to say it is about $15 billion. But that has changed. The AfDB recently released the African Economic Outlook report and the deficit is anywhere between $67 billion to $107 billion every year, so which means we must do a faster job pulling capital together because the rest of the world is not waiting.
How long will it take to close that gap? 
I think within the next decade. But it’s going to take a lot of work…
What about the youth dividend; what are the future industries? 
Africa is at the very top in fintech and mobile money… but as we look at new types of industries, we have to look at them in the context of the fourth industrial revolution… I get excited when I see the youth in Africa well-educated, they are all on social media, know how to use apps, which means they already have a leg up. So the key is how to re-tool them to operate in that kind of a new economy. The AfDB is doing that in three ways already. First is we signed up a joint program with Google and Microsoft to help develop young talented Africans in computer technology. We as a bank are already investing in technology parks in Cape Verde, Angola, Kenya, Senegal, Rwanda. These are technology parks where you can have the ICT industries emerge; almost like trying to create the Silicon Valleys of Africa.
When it comes to the new economy, you have to start early. We have a program trying to create 250 coding centers in Africa where you get people with computational knowledge to do coding services that can help in this new world we are moving towards. We are also investing in universities for science and technology across Africa to create this new scientific human capital…We need to give African youth the skills they need for the jobs of the future, not for the jobs of yesterday.
What then are the new wealth generators? 
If you look at where the money is going in Africa, it’s not actually going into oil, gas and natural resources. Most of the foreign direct investment (FDI) is going into the service industry, at least 64%, and also the financial services sector; maybe about 27% goes into the manufacturing sector. So these are the big sectors where you see a lot of FDI. But there are two sectors very important for me. 
One is ICT, because this is going to be the driver of the economy. It’s very important for countries to invest heavily in the ICT industry to give their countries the platforms they need in the knowledge economy.
The second is the food and agriculture industry. Africa has a lot of oil and gas, but nobody drinks oil, nobody smokes the gas. Food is the future. The size of the food and agriculture industry in Africa is going to be $1 trillion by 2030 in Africa. This is where the wealth is supposed to come from. Unfortunately, in Africa, we always walk past gold. Just imagine you are seeing gold, and you see it as dirt and don’t recognize it. That’s the power agriculture has… The food business is the biggest business. Agriculture is not a development sector, it’s not a social sector, it’s a wealth-creating sector. Agriculture is a business and Africa needs to fully unlock that potential. If you look at the amount of arable land left to feed nine billion people in the world by 2050, it is not in Europe, Latin America, Asia, or the US, it’s in Africa – 65% is right here. What Africa does with agriculture will determine the future of food for the world.
How will Africa’s billionaires and capitalists help achieve these goals? 
If you look at the high-networth-individuals in Africa, the majority of them make their money on this continent, and that’s already a strong signal. Aliko Dangote makes his money in Africa. 
So we are going to get them involved on the Africa Investment Forum because it is trying to send a message to the world that we have African businesses that are viable businesses making money and doing well on the continent; so putting capital to help them expand can help them become global multi-national companies…
And investing in African entrepreneurs? 
The issue for entrepreneurs is finding them, nurturing them and then putting the financial backing behind them to thrive. Africa has a lot of young people. Every day, I wake up I read about a young person doing so well. So the best investment that Africa can make is to put its capital at risk on behalf of its young people. Because when you see a young person walk into a financial institution, all you see is risk, risk, risk. We have to change that and try and see creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. So that way we can put your money at risk to make them more creative, more innovative and unleash their entrepreneurship capacity. That is why at AfDB, we have a program helping to invest in the early-stage businesses of young people. Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates didn’t just get there, somebody had to believe in them.
We have a program set up with the European Union called Boost Africa to invest in young people. The other thing we are doing is helping unleash entrepreneurship in the food and agriculture industry. The bank has a program targeted at getting young graduates, medical doctors, engineers… who are all going to agriculture as a business. Last year, AfDB invested over $860 million in that program for about eight countries. Going forward, we expect to invest $1.5 billion dollars every year in that program for the next 10 years. 
I really think unless we change the mindset, the labor composition of the agricultural sector and create a new dynamic group of entrepreneurs in the food industry, we only will have old people left. Every university in Africa has to make entrepreneurship compulsory.

#AfricaInvestmentForum: A Marketplace Coming To Africa

Press Release
➢ WITH “ROOM2RUN,” AfDB LAUNCHES SECURITIZATION MARKET FOR MULTILATERAL 
DEVELOPMENT BANK SECTOR 
➢ TRANSACTION IS IN DIRECT RESPONSE TO G20 ACTION PLAN FOR MDB BALANCE SHEET OPTIMIZATION 
➢ AfDB COMMITS TO REINVEST FREED UP CAPITAL INTO NEW AFRICAN INFRASTRUCTURE 
LENDING, MAKING ROOM2RUN ONE OF THE LARGEST IMPACT INVESTMENTS EVER 
➢ TRANSACTION IS SUPPORTED BY NEW EUROPEAN UNION GUARANTEE TOOL (EUROPEAN FUND FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT)
OTTAWA, Canada, 18 September 2018 — The African Development Bank (AfDB), the European Commission, Mariner Investment Group, LLC (Mariner), Africa50, and Mizuho International plc today announce the pricing of Room2Run, a US $1 billion synthetic securitization corresponding to a portfolio of seasoned pan-African credit risk. Room2Run is the first-ever portfolio synthetic securitization between a Multi-Lateral Development Bank (MDB) and private sector investors, pioneering the use of securitization and credit risk transfer technology to a new and previously unexplored segment of the financial markets.
Structured as a synthetic securitization by Mizuho International, Room2Run transfers the mezzanine credit risk on a portfolio of approximately 50 loans from among the African Development Bank’s nonsovereign lending book, including power, transportation, financial sector, and manufacturing assets. The portfolio spans the African continent, with exposure to borrowers in North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa. Mariner, the global alternative asset manager and a majority owned subsidiary of ORIX USA, is the lead investor in the transaction through its International Infrastructure Finance Company II fund (“IIFC II”). Africa50, the pan-African infrastructure investment platform, is investing alongside Mariner in the private sector tranche. Additional credit protection is being provided by the European Commission’s European Fund for Sustainable Development in the form of a senior mezzanine guarantee.
“Room2Run gives us fresh resources to invest in the projects Africans need most,” said Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group. “Africa has the most promise, the greatest natural resources, and the world’s youngest population. But we also have the world’s most persistent infrastructure deficits. The African Development Bank has the strategy to address these infrastructure finance gaps—and Room2Run gives us the capacity to make it happen.”
Structured as an impact investment, Room2Run is designed to enable the African Development Bank to increase lending in support of its mission to spur sustainable economic development and social progress. In connection with Room2Run, AfDB has committed to redeploy the freed-up capital into renewable energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, including projects in low income and fragile countries.
“On the Impact scale, Room2Run is off the charts,” said Dr. Andrew Hohns, Lead Portfolio Manager and head of the Mariner Infrastructure Investment Management team. “Room2Run answers the call of the G20 for private sector participants to step in and facilitate development finance, providing a template for attracting significant private sector capital into urgently needed projects in developing economies.”
Raza Hasnani, Head of Infrastructure Investment at Africa50 commented, “Room2Run provides an innovative and commercially viable solution to the African Development Bank’s risk management and lending objectives, while paving the way for commercial investors to support and benefit from the growth of infrastructure on the continent. Africa50 is very pleased to participate in this landmark transaction, which is in line with our mandate to drive increased investment in infrastructure in Africa, and to create pathways for long-term institutional capital to flow into this space.”
Room2Run enjoys the support and participation of the European Commission with an investment from the European Fund for Sustainable Development, in the form of a senior mezzanine guarantee. “Only a few days after announcing our renewed Alliance with Africa for sustainable investments and jobs, I am very happy to announce that we are, together with the African Development Bank, launching Room2Run,” commented Neven Mimica, the European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development. “This initiative is a perfect example of what we are doing to support investments in African low income and fragile countries through the External Investment Plan. Through Room2Run we provide 
an additional protection to investments in the field of renewable energy. Through our Guarantee, investments under Room2Run will translate into extending supply to many people currently without electricity whilst creating much-needed new jobs.”
Room2Run also directly responds to calls by the G20 that MDBs use their existing resources to full capacity, as articulated in the 2015 G20 MDB Action Plan to Optimize Balance Sheets, as well as calls for greater MDB efforts to crowd-in private investment. The G20 has called on MDBs to share risk in their non-sovereign operations with private investors, including through structured finance, mezzanine financing, credit guarantee programs, and hedging structures.
The Government of Canada has been a global leader in advocating for MDBs to use their existing resources more efficiently and to mobilize private capital for global development. The goal of the G20 MDB Action Plan to Optimize Balance Sheets is to catalyze significant new development financing from the MDBs throughout the real economy in key development regions. “Attracting more private capital into global development efforts is critical to building economies that work for more and more people around the world,” said Bill Morneau, Canada’s Minister of Finance, “that’s why Canada and our G20 partners have been calling on multilateral development banks to use their existing resources as efficiently as possible, and to look for new ways to attract more private capital. We are pleased to see the African Development Bank come forward with a transaction that directly responds to both of these objectives. Room2Run is an innovative solution to a long-standing challenge.”
Juan Carlos Martorell, Co-Head of Structured Solutions at Mizuho International, adds, “Compared to other synthetic securitizations, a major achievement of Room2Run has been to ensure that ratings agencies, and in particular S&amp;P, reflect the merits of the risk transfer into their rating assessments for multilateral development banks. AfDB’s leadership through this transaction has now set the stage for broader adoption of the instrument throughout the MDB community.”

AfDB, Mariner Investment Group, and Africa50 price landmark $1 billion impact securitization

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The African development Bank starting in 2007, loaned more than 670 million dollars to the Republic of Kenya and Ethiopia, to construct the Nairobi &#8211; Addis Ababa road corridor linking both countries. How is this infrastructure accelerating cross border trades and impacting lives?

How Nairobi-Addis Ababa road corridor has helped boost trade in East Africa

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As part of its strategy to transform Africa through industrialization, the African Development Bank invested over 240 million US dollars in the expansion of Namibia’s Walvis Bay Port. CNBC Africa takes a look at how this project is impacting the people of Namibia.

AfDB invests $240mn for expansion of Namibia’s Walvis Bay Port

WINDHOEK (Reuters) &#8211; Namibia secured a $218 million loan from the African Development Bank, the second tranche of a quarter billion dollar facility from the development lender to help the country finance its budget deficit, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
The southern African nation’s economy contracted in the final two quarters of 2017, and by 0.1 percent in the first quarter OF 2018. Its credit rating was cut to subinvestment late last year by Fitch over concerns of a deteriorating fiscal position.
Reporting by Nyasha Nyaungwa; Writing by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by James Macharia

African Development Bank grants $218 million loan to Namibia, what you need to know

Over the last decade, and despite impressive growth rates in most of the continent, Africa’s infrastructure needs to remain huge with annual financing gap between US$ 130 and US$ 170 billion annually.
To close this gap, the African Development Bank is working with leading global development finance institutions to set up a mutualized co-guarantee platform to de-risk investments and facilitate projects that have the capacity of transforming the continent under the Africa Investment Forum (AIF).
The Bank is positioning the AIF, scheduled for South Africa, 7-9 November 2018, as a platform to improve the ease of doing business in Africa by advancing and promoting investment friendly regulations. AIF will also champion ethical business practices in Africa.
Speaking at a roadshow on the AIF held in Abuja, the Special Advisor to the Nigerian President and Coordinator of the country’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) Unit, Folarin Ayalande, assured that Nigeria was ready for investment but lack of affordable and long-term finance remain a major constraint.
He described the lending de-risking component of AIF as a game changer and assured of the support of the Nigerian Government. New approaches are required to deliver on the country’s development targets, with a focus on private sector-led growth, he added.
“Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan requires billions of dollars of investment to deliver on its growth and job-creation targets. We will collaborate with the private sector and the AIF by targeting opportunity-driven entrepreneurs by upgrading skills, developing business clusters and economic corridors. These are critical factors to developing a buoyant and productive industrial sector in Nigeria,” he said.
“I am particularly delighted to learn that the AIF will not be another talk show but a platform with convening power to bring different players together to explore investment opportunities for the transformation of the African continent. We have talked enough and must now start to act,” he said.
Senior Director for Nigeria Country Office of the African Development Bank, Ebrima Faal, stressed the critical need to change the current funding mix and create partnerships to finance infrastructure and other projects in Africa.
“Nigeria’s infrastructure cumulative financing needs are estimated to reach US$ 3 trillion by 2044 or about US$100 billion annually. This is all happening at a time when public sector finances are extremely pressured,” Faal said.
“As an African optimist, therefore, I dare say that there has never been a better time to invest in Africa’s infrastructure asset class, while ensuring a diverse source of resources, water-tight project preparation and a strong business case. The Africa Investment Forum has been designed to meet the needs of African stakeholders looking to capitalize on the increasing potential of multi-staker partners and the growing investment appetite in Africa.”
The AIF as a marketplace will bring together the Bank and other multilateral financial institutions to de-risk investments at scale,” said Stella Kilonzo, AIF Senior Director.
“AIF will work closely with investors and project sponsors to enable them increase trade and investment in local and global markets, ensuring that projects are able to secure adequate and appropriate finance.”
Working with multilateral institutions, the private sector, and Governments, the Bank is helping Nigeria and other African countries to fine-tune investment-ready projects for investors, fund managers and others managing substantial assets ahead of the AIF in November.
The Abuja roadshow included a briefing session, interaction with key private players, and presentations from Nigeria’s senior Government officials on the country’s development priorities and project pipeline that could benefit from the AIF partnership.
&nbsp;
By the African Development Bank

How the Africa Investment Forum plans to help businesses mobilize financial resources to catalyze private sector development

ABIDJAN, May 17 (Reuters) &#8211; The African Development Bank has approved a $100 million loan for Nigeria’s Indorama Eleme Fertilizer &amp; Chemicals aimed at helping it boost fertilizer production, the bank said in a statement on Thursday.
The company, a unit of Singapore-based petrochemical producer Indorama, is seeking to double annual output of urea fertilizer from 1.4 million tonnes to 2.8 million tonnes, the statement said.
<a href="http://cnbc.africa/category/insights/african-development-bank/">Click here for more on what the AfDB is doing on the continent</a>
Once a net importer of fertilizer, Nigerian production has grown in recent years. In 2017, it exported around 700,000 tonnes of urea to markets in West African as well as North and South America.
Indorama Fertilizer’s increased output will target the export market but also seek to boost domestic supply to drive down prices.
Nigerian farmers still use much less fertilizer than their global and African peers due to high costs, leading to low crop yields that forced the West African nation to spend around $6 billion on food imports annually.
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<div class="container_2dHIN dp-slot-inline_eUPBt">The AfDB financed the building of a Indorama Fertilizer plant via a previous loan in 2013. It went online in 2016. (Reporting by Joe Bavier Editing by Alison Williams)</div>
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The African Development Bank has just approved a $100mln loan for Nigeria, this is why

The fresh face of the case for investing in Africa beamed out to millions across the continent at <a href="http://cnbc.africa/insights/african-development-bank/2018/05/08/davos-africa-just-launched-need-know/">the launch of the first ever Africa Investment Forum</a>. The man behind it is on a mission with his two passions – encouraging the world to invest in Africa and getting his fellow Africans to grow food.
Akinwumi Adesina is like a breath of fresh air in the often stifling world of African leadership. He is smart, charismatic, speaks in quotable sound bites and loaded with international and government experience. He can hold a room, with style and a smile, sporting a trademark bow tie and quip for all occasions.
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“I wear it because it is sexy and cool to be in the agriculture business. You mustn’t forget that by 2030 65% of the world’s arable land will be in Africa,” says Adesina at the launch of the AIF, which will be held in Johannesburg between November 7 and 9.
Adesina has been first in the field for years. He earned a PhD in agricultural economics in the United States, but cut his teeth across Africa. By his own admission, he was happiest when treading the red African soil in gumboots.
As Nigerian agriculture minister he pioneered a large scale plan to get tens of thousands of his countrymen to grow their own food. One of the unintended consequences of the flow of petro dollars into Lagos in the 1970s was that Nigerians abandoned the fields and imported their food. This effort helped make Adesina Forbes Africa Person of the Year in 2013; his ascension to head of the African Development Bank followed in 2015.
Adesina is also rare among African leaders in that he appears to look forward, with a global view, rather than raking over the past. I have never heard Adesina talk of the sins of the former colonial masters, nor errant past governments.
“When I watch on TV Africans clinging to rickety boats trying to get to Europe that is not the Africa I want to see,” says Adesina.
“I want a new Africa that people want to come to and not move out of.”
Adesina also paints pictures with his public words and salts them with a little memorable humour. He relayed the story of President Paul Kagame out jogging one morning in Kigali. A young woman ran across to the president, only to be challenged by security; Kagame relented and it turned out the young woman merely wanted to say thanks for a grant from his government to go to Kigali Institute of Technology after which she opened a business that she had recently sold for $10 million.
“I know your president [Cyril Ramaphosa] here jogs too. He is a businessman too and maybe can help young people get on in business too,” says Adesina to laughter wearing a smile as bright as a Kigali sunrise.
“What we need to build in Africa is a landing strip for foreign investors.”
Foreign investors hope for happy landings in the era of Adesina.

AfDB’s Akinwumi Adesina: The fresh face of investment in Africa

The first ever Africa Investment Forum will sit down in Johannesburg to work out how to channel a large chunk of an estimated $111 trillion, that will be sitting in the world’s investment funds, by 2020, at low-interest rates.
This investment drive is the brainchild of the business-minded eighth elected president of the African Development Bank Akinwumi Adesina.
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“There will be no political speeches what we want is transaction, transaction and transaction,” Adesina told journalists at the Sandton Convention Centre, in Johannesburg where the investment conference will be held from November 7 to 9.
“I know you like Vuvuzelas (football horns) in this country, so I expect everyone to take their Vuvuzelas out to Africa for investment.”
Adesina, the former agriculture minister of Nigeria, believes Africa is the world’s final frontier and wants to channel investment into power, roads, rails and ports to encourage more to put their money into the continent. He believes he can win over an often skeptical world investment community.
“We have to get rid of this false perception that Africa is risky for investors. We can convince these investors with simple truths.”
The conference will be held in South Africa’s Gauteng province the investment capital of Africa with first world infrastructure. The province, that houses Johannesburg, has 71% of all the investment in South Africa and creates 35% of the country’s GDP. It also accounts for between 8 and 12% of the continent’s GDP.
Journalists asked Makhura about whether investments would be safe.
“They will be very safe. We have strong institutions and an independent judiciary. We are back on track – we had a few problems with our institutions but now we have strong leadership sorting it out,” says Makhura
New President Cyril Ramaphosa, who was out looking for investors at Davos in Switzerland, in January, weeks before he took over the top job, has set his country a target of $100 billion in new investment.

AIF has just launched, this is what you need to know…

Abidjan, 15 March 2018 – The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, has commended the Government of Japan for its strong support of the Bank and its multi-billion economic transformation partnership with Africa. Adesina identified the private sector, energy and infrastructure development as key sectors that have benefited from Japan’s support.
Speaking at the Nobel Prize Dialogue in Yokohama as a global expert on food, agriculture and development, the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina highlighted huge business opportunities for Japanese investment in the agribusiness sector. He also emphasised the strategic importance of two new initiatives: The Transformation of the African Savannah Initiative (TASI) and the bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) programme for scaling up agricultural technologies for millions of farmers. Both initiatives are aimed at reducing Africa’s widening and increasingly expensive net food trade deficit.
Adesina emphasized the importance of good nutrition, especially for young mothers and babies, and said Africa’s most important infrastructure is “the grey matter infrastructure” of babies and young children. “Stunted children today mean stunted economies tomorrow”, said Adesina, who is championing a continent-wide initiative to end the burden of malnutrition in Africa &#8211; the African Leaders for Nutrition (ALN)
During his official visit to Japan, Adesina met top officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, Masatsugu Asakawa, key Government Ministers, and stakeholders, to consider issues of mutual concern.
Speaking at the meetings, President Adesina recalled the Bank’s long, close and friendly relationship with the Government of Japan. He commended Japan for committing $6 billion to fund energy projects in Africa through the Japan Africa Energy Initiative facility, which allows Africa to access Japanese technologies and expertise.
He described the recently signed $6 billion Japan-Africa Energy Financing Facility as “a product of the personal engagement and close relationship the Bank has with African Ambassadors resident in Japan, as well as a special relationship between the Bank and the Government of Japan.”
Adesina assured Japanese officials that the Bank’s planned General Capital Increase would predominantly benefit Africa’s lower income countries.
During meetings with executives of the Toyota Tsusho Corporation, the Africa-Japan Relations Committee, the Japanese Association of Corporate Executives, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the African Development Bank made a case for enhanced private sector participation in Africa’s development and new methods of financing.
According to Adesina, “the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), scheduled for November 7-9, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa, is an ideal platform for this new approach to funding projects in Africa. Through the Africa Investment Forum, the bank and other partner multilateral development banks will create a platform for bankable projects, investment financing, and opportunities for growing infrastructure investment across Africa.
“The Africa Investment Forum is a 100% totally transactional platform, where deals will be concretized and executed. I expect the platform to become Africa’s premier investment marketplace.”
During meetings with Japan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kazuyuki Nakane, the bank shared its keen interest in co-organizing the 2018 Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VII) in Yokohama, in order to strengthen business ties between Japan and Africa.
Adesina also commended the African diplomatic community in Japan for its prominent role in promoting business and investment between Japan and Africa. “On account of your work, the business ties and understandings between Japan and Africa have never been stronger.”
Numerous African Ambassadors in Japan commended the Bank for strongly supporting Africa’s business development. Ambassador Jérôme Kloh Weya of Cote d’Ivoire conveyed his country’s appreciation for the African Development Bank’s role in refinancing Air Cote d’Ivoire in 2017, and for opening up bright prospects for business opportunities in the West African region.

AfDB commends Japan’s multi-billion economic transformation partnership with Africa

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 16 March 2018 – On Wednesday, March 14, 2018, the African Development Bank, rated Aaa/AAA/AAA (Moody’s/S&amp;P/Fitch), priced a new US $2.0-billion 3-year Global Benchmark bond due 22 March 2021.
This bond issue represents the Bank’s first public market deal of 2018. It follows the US $2.0-billion 5-year Global Benchmark priced in November 2017, and is in line with its strategy of issuing larger size, more liquid benchmark transactions. The Global Benchmark was very well oversubscribed, with an order book in excess of US $4.25 billion. More than 80 investors participated in the transaction, including six that were new to the Bank, demonstrating that the deal was well placed across diversified geographies and investor type. The high quality of the order book is illustrated by the strong participation of Central Banks and Official Institutions.
<a href="http://cnbc.africa/category/insights/african-development-bank/">CLICK HERE FOR MORE INSIGHTS ON WHAT THE AFDB IS DOING</a>
The African Development Bank decided to take advantage of the positive market backdrop and of the widening in US dollar swap spreads to issue its first Benchmark of the year. The issuer announced the mandate on Tuesday, March 13, at 2:50pm London time with Initial Pricing Thoughts (IPTs) in the context of mid-swaps plus 1 basis point (bp) area.
The deal enjoyed a very strong reception from the outset. Indications of Interest (IOIs) from the high-quality investor base accumulated at a rapid pace, and by the end of the US trading session, IOIs exceeded US $2.0 billion (excluding Joint-Lead Managers interest). Books officially opened in the European morning at 8:00am London time, with price guidance reviewed to mid-swaps flat, 1 basis point tighter than IPTs, reflecting the strong dynamics of the transaction.
Momentum continued to build throughout the European morning, with books exceeding US $3.0 billion within an hour, and US $4.0 billion (excluding Joint-Lead Managers interest) by midday London, allowing the issuer to set the spread 1bp tighter at mid-swaps minus 1bp. Investors showed strong commitment to the transaction through limited price sensitivity.
The transaction was priced at 4:50pm London with a re-offer yield of 2.661%, equivalent to a spread of 26.35bps over the 3-year US Treasury benchmark 2.375% March 2021.
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Transaction details:
<table width="540">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="134">Issuer:</td>
<td width="406">African Development Bank (“AfDB”)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134">Issuer rating:</td>
<td width="406">Aaa / AAA / AAA (Moody’s / S&amp;P / Fitch)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134">Amount:</td>
<td width="406">USD 2.0 billion</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134">Pricing date:</td>
<td width="406">14 March 2018</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134">Settlement date:</td>
<td width="406">22 March 2018 (T+6)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134">Coupon:</td>
<td width="406">2.625%, Fixed, Semi-Annual 30/360</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134">Maturity date:</td>
<td width="406">22 March 2021</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134">Re-offer price:</td>
<td width="406">99.897%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134">Re-offer yield:</td>
<td width="406">2.661% Semi-Annual</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134">Re-offer spread:</td>
<td width="406">Mid-Swaps -1bp / CT3 +26.35bps</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134">Joint lead managers:</td>
<td width="406">Barclays, BofA Merrill Lynch, BMO Markets, Nomura, TD Securities</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="134">ISIN:</td>
<td width="406">US00828ECZ07</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

African Development Bank launches new bond

Abidjan, Côte d&#8217;Ivoire, March 12, 2018 &#8211; The African Development Bank has expanded its flagship publication, the African Economic Outlook, with five regional reports. The regional economic studies were released in Tunis (North Africa), Abidjan (West and Central Africa), Nairobi (Eastern Africa) and Pretoria (Southern Africa).
&#8220;By offering regional approaches for the first time, we want to leverage the Bank&#8217;s expertise and give more depth of analysis and relevance to this publication,&#8221; said Celestin Monga, Chief Economist and Vice President of the African Development Bank&#8217;s Economic Governance and Knowledge Management.
&#8220;The integration of specific reports for each region reflect the importance the Bank’s focus on the regional dimensions of development and inclusive growth in Africa,&#8221; said Mohamed El Azizi, Director General of the North Africa Region.
North Africa: a positive outlook for 2018 and 2019
North Africa ended 2017 with growth of 4.9% of real GDP, up from 3.3% recorded in 2016. The region’s economic performance is above a 3.6% average for the continent, thanks to higher than expected oil production in Libya and the performance of Morocco, which saw growth rise from 1.2% in 2016 to 4.1% in 2017, on account of increased agricultural productivity. Egypt’s macroeconomic and structural reforms led to a 4% growth in 2017. Overall, growth in the North Africa region was fueled by new high value-added sectors such as electronics and mechanics, as well as private and public consumption. The region’s outlook remains positive for 2018 and 2019, on account of structural reforms. Growth in North Africa is expected to reach 5% and 4.6% respectively in 2018 and 2019.
See Economic Outlook for North Africa 2018.
East Africa: the best economic performance of the continent
According to Nnena Nwabufo, the Bank’s Deputy Director General for the East Africa Region, the East African Economic Outlook highlights a number of policies that member countries must implement to transform their economies.
East Africa, with thirteen countries, recorded the continent’s best economic performance with a GDP growth rate of 5.9% in 2017 −a rate much higher than the growth recorded by the other regions of the continent, and above the continental average of 3.6%. The good performance of the East African sub region is stimulated by six countries: Ethiopia, Tanzania, Djibouti, Rwanda, Seychelles and Kenya. The outlook remains positive for 2018 and 2019, with growth expected to continue, reaching 5.9% in 2018 and 6.2% in 2019.
See Economic Outlook for East Africa 2018.
Southern Africa: economic recovery started, but contrasting growth
Estimated at 1.6% on average in 2017, real GDP growth in Southern Africa is expected to improve to 2% in 2018 and 2.4% in 2019.
Deputy Director General of the Bank for Southern Africa, Josephine Ngure said: &#8220;The Southern Africa region has made considerable progress in the fight against poverty and improvements in the quality of life of its inhabitants, through the implementation of policies targeting the acceleration of industrialization and the promotion of growth and job creation.&#8221;
However, economic forecasts remain cautious, especially given the very different growth patterns of the region&#8217;s economies. The economic &#8220;locomotive&#8221; of the region, South Africa, shows signs of slow growth, and possibly declining growth, while low-income countries and the economies in transition, such as Madagascar and Mozambique, recorded more important growth.
&#8220;High fiscal deficits and rising public debt pose challenges to macroeconomic stability in several southern African countries. Governments should put in place measures to improve the mobilization of domestic resources and funds from the private sector to ensure adequate levels of development spending, stimulate growth and create jobs, especially for young people, &#8220;said Stefan Muller, Bank’s Senior Economist for Southern Africa.
See Economic Outlook for Southern Africa 2018.
West Africa: Progress in a contrasting panorama
After several good years, economic growth in West Africa stagnated at 0.5% in 2016.   The decline in the price of raw materials and the unimpressive performance of Nigeria, which alone accounts for about 70% of the sub region’s GDP, were some of the key factors identified as responsible for stagnation. Economic growth in West Africa rebounded to 2.5% in 2017 and is projected to rise to 3.8% in 2018 and 3.9% in 2019. Household consumption and the relative price recovery of certain materials are expected to contribute to this performance.
Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, Deputy Director General of the African Development Bank for West Africa, identified job creation, especially for young people as the big challenge for the sub-region.
&#8220;The 2018 Regional Economic Outlook for West Africa presents a comprehensive analysis of the economy and the labor market of 15 countries, focusing on macroeconomic stability, employment and poverty of the population living in West Africa. Let us not forget that some of the countries in this sub-region are facing enormous security challenges, &#8220;she said.
See Economic Outlook for West Africa 2018.
Central Africa: Better prospects after a modest performance
The Central African region recorded 0.9% real GDP in 2017, the lowest growth rate of the continent, although it represents a relative improvement over growth of 0.1% in 2016. This sub regional performance masks many disparities between countries: relatively good growth for Cameroon and the Central African Republic, and very low growth for Equatorial Guinea and Congo. The economic difficulties in Central Africa are largely due to lower raw material prices, which some countries in the region are heavily dependent on, as well as recurring security threats in others.
The outlook for 2018 and 2019 is more encouraging, fueled by rising world prices for raw materials and domestic demand. According to the Bank&#8217;s projections, real GDP growth in Central Africa is expected to reach 2.4 percent in 2018 and 3 percent in the following year. Other enabling factors include sound macroeconomic management and a more favorable institutional environment.
&#8220;With improvements in the economic situations of Congo and Equatorial Guinea, the economic performance of the sub-region is expected to improve in 2018 and 2019. It would be good to include this improvement over time through the diversification of economies of the sub region,&#8221; said Racine Kane, Deputy Director General of the African Development Bank for Central Africa.
See Economic Outlook for Central Africa 2018.

African Development Bank assesses Africa’s economies, this is how they fair…

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Earlier this week, the African Development Bank together with the African Union Commission, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other partners launched the African Leaders for Nutrition Initiative.

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Rwanda secures $269mn loan to improve electricity supply

AfDB plans to unveil billion dollars’ worth of bankable projects

Adesina bags honorary degree from Nigerian defence academy

AfDB seeks partnerships to lift 1 billion people out of hunger globally

#AfricaInvestmentForum: A Marketplace Coming To Africa

AfDB, Mariner Investment Group, and Africa50 price landmark $1 billion impact securitization

How Nairobi-Addis Ababa road corridor has helped boost trade in East Africa

AfDB invests $240mn for expansion of Namibia’s Walvis Bay Port

African Development Bank grants $218 million loan to Namibia, what you need to know

How the Africa Investment Forum plans to help businesses mobilize financial resources to catalyze private sector development

The African Development Bank has just approved a $100mln loan for Nigeria, this is why

AfDB’s Akinwumi Adesina: The fresh face of investment in Africa

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AfDB commends Japan’s multi-billion economic transformation partnership with Africa

African Development Bank launches new bond

African Development Bank assesses Africa’s economies, this is how they fair…

Assessing the African Leaders for Nutrition initiative

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