By Vanessa Moungar, Director of Gender, Women and Civil Society 



If you are a gender champion,
then you are familiar with the discussions around the glass cliff.&nbsp; The story of women eager to defy the odds, accepting leadership roles at times of crisis, when
the chance of failure is the highest. The truth is that many bold glass
cliff climbers have succeeded without falling off. 



Two of such champions come to my
mind: the former Xerox CEO Anne
Mulcah and Tokunboh Ishmael, co-founder of
Aliethiea IDF.



Mulcah, Ishmael and likeminded
agents of change have already shattered the status quo. So, when the first
Global Gender Summit held in Africa kicks off on November 25th in
Kigali, Rwanda, the international community will hurtle towards heeding the
calls to dismantle barriers to women’s full participation and advancement
economic development on the continent. 



Women make up over 40%
of African business owners yet only 2% are able to access finance according to
a Mckinsey report. One in four women globally who start in a business come from
Africa (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor).



The Summit, organised by the
Multilateral Development Banks’ (MDBs) Working Group on gender, will be held in
Africa for the first time ever, from the 25th to 27th
November 2019 in Kigali, Rwanda. This year’s summit is hosted by the African
Development Bank in partnership with the Government of Rwanda and supported by
other multilateral development banks as key partners. 



Under the theme “Unpacking
constraints to gender equality,” the Global Gender Summit will share best
practices and seek innovative solutions that can be harnessed to empower women
and girls in Africa and around the world.



We are excited to be bringing the
world to Rwanda, a country that has set a strong example when it comes to
promoting women’s rights and representation. 



Rwanda&nbsp;was the
first country in the world with a&nbsp;female&nbsp;majority
in&nbsp;parliament, currently at
67.5 %, following October parliamentary polls. Out of a total parliamentary
membership of 80, women occupy 54 seats. This feat puts the nation ahead of
even the most developed nations. 



From the massive financing gap
for women-led enterprises, inadequate data, laws and cultural norms that
negatively affect women, to a lack of representation in business and politics,
the challenges are great.



But the opportunities are there
too.



Discussions will focus on the
main barriers to achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment, namely:
scaling up innovative financing, fostering an enabling environment and ensuring
women’s participation and voices. Sectors to be addressed will include climate
change, the digital revolution, private sector and human capital and productive
employment.



In Africa, women-led enterprises
face a whopping $42 billion financing gap. One of the Bank’s flagship gender-focused projects is its Affirmative
Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA), which seeks to accelerate growth
and employment creation across African economies, by closing the financing gap
for women. 



Over the next 5 years, AFAWA is
expected to unlock $3 billion in private sector financing to empower female
entrepreneurs through capacity-building development, access to finance as well
as policy, legal and regulatory reforms to support enterprises led by women.



Our Fashionomics Africa
initiative supports the African textiles and fashion industries by building the
capacities of small and medium-sized enterprises in the textile and clothing
sector, especially those run by women and youth. By using technology as a driver for the development of skills and
capacity in Africa’s creative industries, the African Development Bank aims to
stimulate job creation on the continent. At the summit, we will unveil an
innovative online marketplace for designers across the continent.



That’s just some of the exciting
news. We will use the opportunity of the Global Gender Summit to launch a
number of initiatives to dramatically transform the landscape of access to finance for women
across the continent.



These include the
Africa Gender Index- a joint African Development Bank and the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) report that assesses African countries on
gender equality.



The launch of the AFAWA/AGF Risk Sharing Facility, which will de-risk lending to women through AGF’s partial, guarantees to financial institutions and its capacity development to women entrepreneurs. As well as these continent-wide initiatives, we at the African Development Bank understand that change begins at home. That is why in 2018, the Bank rolled out its gender marker system to process, monitor, and promote gender mainstreaming in all its operations, with gender specialists as part of project teams and Bank operations.



By the end of last year, 40% of
public sector Bank operations had been organised under the gender marker
system, a major shift in the Bank’s way of doing business and commitment to
gender mainstreaming. 



We continue to
support and build the individual power of girls and women across the countries
we work in and never has the time been more urgent.



We expect the Global Gender Summit, to
be a milestone event in the empowerment of women in Africa and beyond. &nbsp;See you there.



* This year’s Global Gender Summit, is hosted by the African Development Bank in partnership with the Government of Rwanda and supported by other multilateral development banks as key partners.

Op-Ed: Gender equality: It’s time for disruption, time to shatter the status quo. We can’t afford to wait!

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The African Development Bank (AfDB) says the second edition of the Africa Investment Forum recorded $40.1 billion in investor interest from its boardroom dealings. CNBC Africa’s Chris Bishop and Kenneth Igbomor spoke to Africa Investment Forum’s Head and Senior Director, Chinelo Anohu-Amazu about the interests secured.

Africa Investment Forum: Anohu-Amazu: The real work starts after the forum

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The United States International Development Finance Corporation (USIDFC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to mobilize private capital in support of development in Africa. Adam Boehler, CEO of DFC spoke to CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor about this and more on the sidelines of the 2019 Africa Investment Forum.

Africa Investment Forum: How DFC & AfDB to mobilize private capital for Africa

By Morsy Hanan



In many ways, Africa needs trade and investment even more
than it needs development aid. This is reflected by the African Development
Bank’s commitment to explore all the possible options of mobilising domestic
resources. 



Africa’s financing needs will remain very
large over the next few decades. Both public and private capital formation will
be necessary to pursue the necessary structural transformation of African
economies into industrial and post-industrial societies. 



Governments, of course, remain critical in
sustaining investment in Africa in the coming decades, and external debt
financing is key to supporting basic infrastructure construction and the
provision of standard public services.



Domestic resource mobilization allows Africa to move
towards financial autonomy. In 2015 African tax revenues had more than doubled
in ten years to over $500 billion, almost 3 times higher than the total value
of foreign direct investment, overseas development aid, and remittances. 



However Africa can do even better. Much can be done by
improving tax administration. For instance the Republic of Togo’s tax reforms
increased its tax revenues to GDP ratio from 16% in 2010 to 20% in 2015 thanks
to the technical and financial advice of the African Development Bank. 



The composition of total financial flows to Africa
reflects the dynamism of its domestic markets. In 2017, total financial inflows
are projected were around $180 billion. Remittances were $66.2 billion, foreign
direct investment inflows were $57.5 billion, supported mainly by greenfield
investments from emerging economies. Tax revenue remains the most important
source of domestic financing in African countries but has slowed down with the
decline in commodity prices. 



There is a clear need to continue with the
policy of developing innovative tools to finance development, concentrating on
deepening domestic capital markets and on crowding in private capital through
risk mitigation instruments to unlock resources that can replace debt. 



Developing more risk-sharing instruments
with the private sector through pre-financing of future tax revenues,
establishing sovereign insurance contracts, and leveraging government and
multilateral guarantees, will contribute to significant de-risking of private
investments in capital intensive projects. 



Private sector participation in infrastructure
development must be increased by putting in place the required regulatory
frameworks and scaling up public–private partnerships. The Bank and other
international financial institutions can help to increase risk-sharing with the
private sector and reduce public borrowing needs. Contingent debt, where
repayment is conditional on the achievement of certain project milestones, can
improve incentives for government officials and private corporations to
complete major projects without delays or quality control problems.
Multilateral lenders can provide benchmarks and guidelines, as well as low-risk
financing tranches for long-term projects. 



The Bank can help develop guidelines and
international best practice principles for the design and implementation of
such new instruments to strengthen transparency, protect borrowers against
commodity price downturns, and ensure competitive tender processes across
infrastructure suppliers to optimize the cost of project development. 



It can also exploit mutually advantageous
exchanges, such as “natural resources for infrastructure” bargains with
traditional or new bilateral lenders. Resources for infrastructure swaps, where
natural resources revenues are used as collateral or direct repayment
instruments in the financing of large infrastructure projects, can be useful in
fostering economic diversification and in reducing the need for direct foreign
borrowing. 



The Bank is also exploring the use of
diaspora bonds to crowd in private sector funds and mobilise domestic and
national resources. Such bonds have already been issued by several African
countries, such as Ethiopia and Nigeria, to tap the increasing flow of
remittances from migrants in advanced economies, and to channel these funds
toward infrastructure investments. The Bank could, for example, provide
guarantees or co-finance part of the return on these bonds to make them
attractive to emigrants and to ensure that they finance efficient investment
projects.



This
is the key to economic transformation – innovation in resource mobilisation and
international investments, presenting a legacy of growth coupled with the
confidence of a new generation of young African entrepreneurs and leaders with
new vision and ambition, incentivised and encouraged to invest and engage in
enterprise and innovation. 



A
transformed Africa cannot be dependent upon commodities, or upon foreign aid,
or on handouts of any kind. Africa is quite simply a great investment, a
collective deal with better numbers and potential than a lot of other
investment packages in developed countries. 



It
no longer takes an act of imagination to grasp this. It can be seen in the
growing diversification and industrialisation of African economies and the
accelerating progress made towards the achievement of the High 5s. 



It
can be seen in the inspirational Africa Investment Forum, where these and many
other ideas and innovations can be appreciated at close hand in the
negotiations and bargaining that characterise good deal making on behalf of
Africa.

Op-Ed: Raising capital to finance development – the AfDB as innovator and catalyst

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Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, Chairperson of Kalagadi Manganese, has been involved with the African Development Bank (AfDB) for a number of years, having been funded by the bank. She spoke to CNBC Africa’s Kopano Gumbi about her shared interests with AfDB around gender diversity and giving opportunities to African businesswomen.

Africa Investment Forum: Kalagadi Manganese’s Mashile-Nkosi on funding

Africa Investment Forum: Kalagadi Manganese’s Mashile-Nkosi on funding, women empowerment & gender diversity

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The Africa Investment Forum comes at an opportune time for Africa given the increase interest from investors and financier on the continent, says Mohamed Hedi Mejai, the Director of the Investments Department at Islamic Development Bank Group. The Group is a founding partner of the AIF, along with the African Development Bank. He spoke to CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor.

Africa Investment Forum: IsDB looks to expand footprint in PPPs on the continent

By
Dr. Jennifer Blanke



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-683x1024.jpg" alt="In much of Africa, 60% or more of the working population is employed in agriculture. And yet agriculture only contributes about one quarter of Africa’s GDP, with the continent mainly producing and exporting raw products and importing significant amounts of processed food." class="wp-image-349733" width="574" height="861" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-696x1044.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-1068x1602.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-280x420.jpg 280w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB.jpg 1365w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 574px) 100vw, 574px" /></figure></div>



This week, business leaders, project developers, development finance professionals, institutional investors representing pension and sovereign wealth funds, as well as policymakers meet in Johannesburg for the second Africa Investment Forum convened by the African Development Bank. 



The Forum is an innovative marketplace&nbsp;&#8211; dedicated to
moving development ideas and projects to bankability, to mobilizing capital,
and to accelerating the financial closure of deals that can improve the lives
of millions of people. Among other things, the Africa Investment Forum has the
potential to accelerate Africa’s agricultural transformation.



In much of Africa,
60% or more of the working population is employed in agriculture. And yet
agriculture only contributes about one quarter of Africa’s GDP, with the
continent mainly producing and exporting raw products and importing significant
amounts of processed food. The sector punches below its weight. And yet there
is huge potential for income and job creation if Africa can increase productivity
and move up the value chain to produce more, higher value-added, processed
food. 



The bottom line is
that African agriculture must move from being a “way of life” to a resilient,
sustainable business sector that creates prosperity, jobs, as well as improves
incomes and livelihoods of rural people. The Africa Investment Forum convenes
players in the agriculture and agribusiness sector who come together to roll up
their sleeves and explore business and investment opportunities. The Forum’s concrete
“boardroom discussions” connect investment projects with investors. It brings
together entrepreneurs, project developers and investors interested in
agriculture to make deals. 



Last year’s Africa Investment
Forum saw nearly 2,000 participants from 87 nations gather to discuss more than
$46 billion-worth of boardroom deals. One of the highlights was a transaction
involving Ghana Cocoa Board, designed to help Ghana’s cocoa sector – which
employs some 800,000 farm families, producing crops worth about $2 billion in
foreign exchange annually. The presence of Ghana’s Head of State, H.E. Nana
Akufo-Addo, in the boardroom session galvanized investor interest in a sector
so important for Ghana, one of the world’s top cocoa exporters. 



This year, Ghana’s Cocoa Board
returns to the Forum to sign a Facility Agreement for a $600 million syndicated
receivables-backed term loan aimed at enhancing Ghana’s cocoa productivity. The investment deal – also involving Credit Suisse as well as
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited &#8211; was born out of the Africa
Investment Forum.



This
year’s Forum will also see a focus on Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones,
or SAPZs. There&nbsp; is often little
investment interest in Africa’s rural areas, due to a lack of transport, energy
and other critical infrastructure. SAPZs are a solution to connect rural areas
to regional and global supply chains, so that
they can produce higher value-added processed goods in areas of higher agricultural
productivity. SAPZs gather most or all the elements of an agricultural value
chain in one area: from farm to fork. Aside from attracting investment, SAPZs
are also important from a development perspective because that they help to
raise rural incomes and create job opportunities for Africa’s surging youth
population. 



When
properly designed and well executed, SAPZs are powerful tools toward removing
barriers to access to technology, infrastructure and resources to Africa’s
industrialization. By increasing the transformation of products like cotton,
cashew nuts, cocoa and livestock, for example, SAPZs have the potential to
improve Africa’s overall trade balance. Many African countries have committed
to integrating SAPZs in their national development strategies – the Africa
Investment Forum will showcase SAPZ plans out of Benin, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon,
Senegal, South Africa, and Togo.&nbsp;



The
Bank provides support to attract investors in the agro processing space via
fiscal, regulatory, and infrastructure incentives.&nbsp;To make the
concentrated, all-in-one-place SAPZ activity work smoothly, innovative
companies pursuing SAPZs in Africa need investors. 



Investor
opportunity abounds, boosted by prospects of an integrated African market via the Continental Free Trade
Agreement (AfCFTA),
which promises to usher in the economies of
scale needed for SAPZ-produced
or processed goods to participate in strong
regional agriculture value chains catering to &nbsp;a population of more than a billion people with
a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion. This
can then provide a springboard to global markets. &nbsp;



We
see this vision for Ethiopia, a nation embracing the SAPZ concept with support
from African Development Bank and other partners, to promote the advancement of
Ethiopian crops like oilseed, wheat and maize, beef and dairy livestock and of
course, its world-famous coffee. With SAPZ projects launched in Ethiopia, the
impact is expected to translate into $1.5 billion in private sector investment
and the creation of 400,000 jobs – with 70% of them targeting youth. 



We often hear the
clichés about ‘Africa Rising’ and Africa being the ‘new hot spot’ for
investment. Yet Africa has not suddenly appeared! It is home to more than half
of the world’s fertile, yet largely uncultivated, cropland. African agriculture
is a big business opportunity – by most estimates, the continent’s food and
agribusiness market will be worth one trillion US dollars by 2030. Yet this
requires investment.



Only $7 billion per
year is invested in Africa’s agriculture sector – that needs to rise to about
$45 billion per year to harness agriculture’s power and move Africa up the
value chain to create jobs and revenue. It is time to put investment money
where many mouths have been talking about Africa’s ‘Green Revolution,’ for
years. It is time to equip Africa with the financial tools to grow into the
reliable food production resource that feeds Africa as well as ensures that
Africa does its part to feed the world. It is time for Africa to move from an
aid paradigm to an investment paradigm &#8211; this is what we are doing this week at
the Africa Investment Forum, in Johannesburg, South Africa.



Dr. Jennifer Blanke is the
African Development Bank Group’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and
Social Development.

Op-Ed: The #AfricaInvestmentForum: an accelerator for Africa’s agricultural transformation

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Discussion around gender are always important for African Development Bank (AfDB), as no development conversation should be led without integrating the needs of women. That is according to Vanessa Moungar, Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society at AfDB. She joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor.

Africa Investment Forum: AfDB: How the forum can address gender equality on the continent

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The African Development Bank&#8217;s (AfDB) Country Manager for Morocco; Leila Mokaddem, discussed the opportunities open to Moroccan investors at this year&#8217;s Africa Investment Forum with CNBC Arica&#8217;s Kenneth Igbomor.

Africa Investment Forum: Why Morocco is an attractive place to invest – AfDB

Johannesburg, South Africa, 12 November 2019&nbsp;&#8211; The African Development Bank, Credit Suisse AG, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited and Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) signed a $600 million syndicated receivables-backed term loan on Tuesday, to boost cocoa productivity in Ghana &#8211; the world’s second-largest cocoa producer.



Ghanaian President&nbsp;Nana&nbsp;Addo&nbsp;Dankwa Akufo-Addo,&nbsp;the President of the African Development Bank Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, senior officials from Credit Suisse and ICBC, oversaw the signing of the facility, at a ceremony held on the second day of the 2019 Africa Investment Forum.



The multi-million dollar agreement is a milestone for the Bank-convened Africa Investment Forum, a transactional platform dedicated to transforming the continent’s investment and development agenda, which kicked off in Sandton City Johannesburg on Monday.



The COCOBOD transaction was launched at the&nbsp;Africa Investment Forum&nbsp;in 2018, and a year later, the signing is a demonstration of the Forum’s ability to raise much needed financing, including from international commercial financiers, for projects in Africa. Prior to the agreement, COCOBOD did not have access to long-term debt capital.



At a press conference following the signing, President&nbsp;Akufo-Addo said the agreement would help to ensure higher incomes for Ghana’s cocoa farmers.



“It was critical that we find a mechanism for scaling up the value chain for our farmers and that is where the Bank came in,” Akufo Addo said. “We see this agreement as a turning point and…to what is possible on this continent.”



The Bank,&nbsp;as Original DFI Lender and Initial Mandated Lead Arranger, is partnering with&nbsp;Credit Suisse as&nbsp;Original Commercial Lender, Global Commercial Coordinator, Co-



Mandated Lead Arranger. Credit Suisse is also acting as Joint Commercial Underwriter and Bookrunner&nbsp;to structure and fund a&nbsp;dual-tranche facility comprising a $250 million, 7-year DFI tranche with the Bank, as well as a $350 million, 5-year commercial tranche.



The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited London Branch joined as an Original Commercial Lender, Co-Mandated Lead Arranger and Joint Commercial Underwriter and Bookrunner ahead of syndication.



Syndication of the facility is underway.



Making sure that Africa gets to the top of the value chain is one of the African Development’s Bank’s top priorities, President Adesina said, adding that Africa could become a global hub for cocoa and cocoa-based products.



“All cocoa producing countries will get similar support (from the Bank). Ghana is bankable, cocoa is bankable and of course Africa is bankable,” Adesina said.



COCOBOD will use the facility to raise cocoa yields per hectare and increase Ghana’s overall production. These include financial interventions to sustainably increase cocoa plant fertility, improving irrigation systems, rehabilitating aged and disease-infected farms. The funds will also help increase warehouse capacity and provide support to local cocoa-processing companies.



Signing&nbsp;for Credit Suisse,&nbsp;Madthav Patki&nbsp;said the “landmark” transaction would facilitate future long-term investment in the Ghanaian cocoa sector.



“This is a positive contribution to a key sector of Ghana’s economy. “It is a moment of tremendous pride…This is what the Africa Investment Forum is all about,” Patki said. He also commended the Bank’s signature expertise in financial instruments, that enabled them to leverage financing for the deal.



The Africa Investment Forum, an initiative of the African Development Bank is an innovative, multi-stakeholder transactional marketplace, dedicated to raising capital, advancing projects to bankable stage, and accelerating financial closure of deals.&nbsp;



Ghana’s cocoa sector employs some 800,000 rural families and produces crops worth about $2 billion in foreign exchange annually.&nbsp;COCOBOD&nbsp;is a fully state-owned company solely&nbsp;responsible for Ghana’s cocoa industry, controlling the purchase, marketing and export of all cocoa beans produced in the country.

#AfricaInvestmentForum: Ghana’s COCOBOD signs historic $600 million cocoa deal

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The Africa Investment Forum, a game-changer to tilt capital flow into the continent will take place from 11-13 November 2019 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Karabo Letlhatlha spoke to Victor Oladokun, Director of Communication and External Relations at the African Development Bank.

Victor Oladokun: Here’s what to expect from the Africa Investment Forum

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The Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer of African Development Bank (AfDB), Swazi Tshabalala says the 125 per cent capital increase by its shareholders will empower the AfDB with a direct lending capacity of 100 billion dollars in the next 10 years. She joins CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor to discuss this on the side-lines of an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in Abidjan.

AfDB shareholders approve 125% capital increase to maintain AAA rating

By Mariam Yinusa and Edward Mabaya are Principal Economist and Manager, respectively, in the Agribusiness Development Division of the African Development Bank. 



In
the past decade, a stroll along the aisles of any African supermarket is revealing:
there is a new wave of home-brewed brands that are fast becoming household
names. Products like Dangote rice from Nigeria, Akabanga pepper oil from Rwanda
and Tomoca coffee from Ethiopia attest to the gradual but persistent evolution
towards greater agro-processing and value addition in the domestic agriculture
sector.



Africa’s
agribusiness sector is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, so there is certainly
cause for optimism. Consumer demand for food in Africa is growing at an
unprecedented rate. But what is fuelling this growth?



First,
size matters. At a population of 1.2 billion people, Africa is currently the
second most populous continent in the world, superseded only by Asia. According
to United Nations projections, Africa’s population could reach 2 billion by
2030 and 2.5 billion by 2050. This means that one in five consumers globally
will be African. 



Second, quality
counts. Sustained GDP growth rates in several countries across the continent have
translated into rising incomes for some segments of the population. According
to the African Development Bank’s African Economic Outlook Report, the middle-class population is expected is projected
to reach 1.1 billion by 2060 which will make up 42% of the population. The
average African middle-class consumer is becoming relatively more affluent,
sophisticated and discerning in the food they choose to buy and eat. Concerns
about price/quality trade-offs, convenience, nutritional content and food
safety, amongst others, are central in their minds.



Third, concentration can
be powerful. Although most growth poles are small
to medium cities, megacities with populations of over 10 million inhabitants,
such as Cairo, Lagos and Kinshasa, have gained increased prominence. These
metropoles offer ripe opportunities for investment, as a result of the triad of
high consumption, concentrated spending power, and agglomeration (i.e. lower and
fixed distribution costs). 



On
the supply side, there is significant untapped potential. Over 60% of the world’s
uncultivated arable land is in Africa. 



Policy
makers recognize the huge opportunities these trends present and are making concerted
efforts to create and maintain an enabling business environment to attract both
local and foreign investors. The African Development Bank is at the forefront of
this coalition of the “ready” to transform African agriculture.



Under
its Feed Africa Strategy, the Bank is supporting its regional member countries
to address both demand and supply side constraints along agricultural value
chains. Through initiatives like the Technologies for African Agricultural
Transformation (TAAT), the Bank is boosting historically low yields in priority
commodities such as rice, maize and soybeans. In Sudan for example, the TAAT
supported heat-resistant wheat variety has increased wheat self-sufficiency
from 24% in 2016 to 45% in the 2018-2019 farming season. At the same time, Special
Agro-Processing Zones (SAPZs) are attracting both hard and soft infrastructure
and creating value addition to increased agricultural produce. Together with partners including Korea-Exim Bank and the European
Investment Bank, the AfDB has invested USD 120 million in SAPZs in Guinea,
Ethiopia and Togo which will significantly expand local agro-processing
activities along numerous agricultural value chain.



Along
with these key investments in Africa’s agricultural value chains, the continent
is starting to consolidate its wins. A case in point is regional integration,
exemplified by the recent ratification of the African Continental Free Trade
Area (AfCFTA), which has the potential to make Africa the
largest free trade area in the world.



Agribusiness
has already caught the eye of investors. Last year, it was one of the main
attractions at the inaugural Africa Investment Forum conference, which is
becoming the continent’s premier marketplace for global and pan-African
business leaders, and an innovator in accelerating deals.



Agriculture
was one of the nine sectors that attracted investor interest at the 2018 Africa
Investment Forum. The sector held its own against big hitters like financial
services, infrastructure, energy, and ICT. &nbsp;One such transaction was the Ghana Cocoa Board
(COCOBOD) deal in which USD $600 million loan financing was mobilized from the
AfDB and other investors to boost annual production of cocoa beans from 880,000
tons to 1.5 million tons. &nbsp;Within the
next three years, the project is also expected to promote growth in the domestic
cocoa value chain by increasing processing capacity two-fold from 220,000 tons
to 450,000 tons per annum.



Africa’s expanding consumer base will
undoubtedly lead to more spending on food and beverages on the continent. This
should be enlightening for would-be investors in food processing and value
addition ventures. 



The
front door to these opportunities is the Africa Investment Forum, scheduled for
November 11-13 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Op-Ed: Agribusiness: Africa’s new investment frontier

By Bajabulile “Swazi” Tshabalala, Vice President for Finance and Chief Finance Officer for the African Development Bank Group



2019 will be one
of the defining moments in Africa’s investment landscape. Bigger, bolder and
more ambitious projects await delegates and investors as we prepare to kick off
the second edition of the Africa Investment Forum. 



A multi-billion-dollar
petrochemical project in Egypt and the Kigali Innovation City Project in
Rwanda, are only two of the projects which featured during the maiden edition
of the Forum held in November last year.



Alongside a greater
emphasis on helping transactions reach bankability and in pushing ahead the
regional integration agenda, project sponsors and investors continue to flock
to our digital<a href="https://platform.africainvestmentforum.com/"> Platform</a>,
with <a>interest already shown in 151 projects from 34
African countries worth $112.4 billion.</a>



Following the immense
success of the inaugural edition held in November 2018, the Africa Investment
Forum, a brainchild of the African Development Bank, is becoming a firm fixture
in the calendars of the global investment community.<a> The
2018 event saw close to 2,000 participants, representing 83 countries, out of
which some 277 were delegates from development finance institutions that are
active in Africa. </a>



The 2018 Forum
was instrumental in showcasing up to 49 different transactions at different
stages of development and with a total value of $40 billion. These projects were presented to a
large audience of investors and financiers. Judging from the interest
generated, the Forum promises to play a major role in catalyzing investment
flows into Africa, so instrumental in moving the continent forward into the future.



Some of the key projects for which the
Forum is expected to play an invaluable role, include the Desert to Power
initiative – that aims to provide 10,000 MW of solar-generated electricity to 250 million people
across the Sahel. Projects like the Inga Hydro-electric
scheme in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other major cross-border
infrastructure projects in road and rail, are all highly transformative projects
with important social and economic impacts.



The timing of
the coming into being of the Forum is fortuitous, coming on the heels of the Africa
Continental Free Trade Area and the Single African Air Transport Market,
ratified by the majority of African Union members. 



New investments made
possible through the Africa Investment Forum have the potential to spur an
explosion in trade, contribute to Africa’s re-industrialization and promote
cross-border regional economic integration. 



Indeed, while
the platform continues to ramp up and grow, the Forum offered some very
important lessons. In particular, additional resources are required to
adequately prepare projects which are crucial for Africa’s development. Well-prepared
projects minimize negative environmental and social issues, while maximizing
development and economic outcomes, thus contributing to enhanced bankability. This
notwithstanding, projects originated through the Forum will benefit from the Bank’s
wider ecosystem and the numerous instruments and partnerships with other development
finance institutions which will help transform project ideas into actual investments
that create jobs and economic opportunities on the ground. 



While the Forum
is a practical and transactional platform for project deals and potential
financers to interact, it has also become a staging post for new financing
product innovations that compliment and contribute to de-risking and making
investment opportunities more attractive for investors. Examples of recent
innovations in this regard include the co-guarantee platform that was
established in 2018 by the African Development Bank alongside its partners the Islamic
Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), African
Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) and GuarantCo. 



As we prepare again
to put Africa on global investors’ radars, I would like to see tied to the
Forum more activities with the potential of bringing increased dynamism and
depth to African domestic capital markets; initiatives that help mobilize African
domestic resources into projects coming to this platform for funding. 



Beyond this, there
are opportunities for the African diaspora whose annual remittances to the
continent now top $60 billion a year, making it an immense pool of money that
can actively participate in Africa’s development story and benefit from the
myriad investment opportunities. 



I would like to
see diaspora bond issuances and/or collective investment vehicles discussed and
presented at the Forum, as they can represent significant financing that can be
put to work for the benefit of Africa’s development.



I also strongly
encourage and welcome greater participation of the South African institutional
investment management industry.



We look forward to a successful Forum and to greater acceleration of the development of the continent.

Africa Investment Forum

Op-Ed: Why global and Pan African investors need to set their sight on the 2019 #AfricaInvestmentForum

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<script src="https://players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.min.js"></script>
The African Development Bank (AfDB) held its extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in Abidjan where Governors of the bank approved a landmark $115 billion increase in capital for the continent’s foremost financial institution. Kenneth Igbomor joins CNBC Africa for more.

AfDB shareholders approve landmark $115bn capital increase

By: Mateus Magala, Vice-President of Corporate Services and Human Resources at the African Development Bank



Economic reforms, a burgeoning middle class and regional diversity against the background of the new African Continental Free Trade Area &#8211; are making Africa’s Portuguese-speaking countries a hotspot for investor interest. Additionally, new tools – such as the Development Finance Compact for Lusophone Africa – give investors and lenders more comfort to enter into these markets.



The six African countries called “PALOPs”, their
Portuguese acronym – Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea,
Mozambique and São Tomé e Principe – are very diverse. They range from
Equatorial Guinea, Africa’s richest country per capita, to lower income economies;
from Angola’s and Mozambique’s populations of over 30 million to Cabo Verde’s
and São Tomé’s, of less than one million; and from southeastern Africa to the
northwest of the continent.



These states also share important traits. They have a
common heritage and language. As independent states, they have fostered trade ties
with Portugal and Brazil, among others.&nbsp;
And, most importantly for our current consideration they have all
recognized that they must do more to unleash the potential of the private
sector in their countries.&nbsp; The private
sector here faces constraints, ranging from lack of affordable financing to
difficulties in project preparation. The good news is that the PALOP governments
are determined to tackle these issues – with the help of their partners, such
as the African Development Bank. 



In November 2017, Bank President Akinwumi Adesina
visited Lisbon for discussions on how Portugal and the Bank could work in a more
integrated manner. Out of this meeting emerged a vision for a new partnership,
one that is open to other partners: the Development Finance Compact for
Lusophone Africa.&nbsp; Signed at the November
2018 Africa Investment Forum, its goal is very simple: to accelerate the
diversified, sustainable and inclusive growth of the private sector in the six
PALOPs. And it is completely focused on transactions to deliver practical
results on the ground. 



How does the Lusophone Compact propose to do this? Put simply, it is
results-based and focused on two types of interventions: financing and risk
mitigation from the partners for specific private sector and public-private
sector partnership (PPP) investments in the PALOPs; and technical assistance
projects that enable the private sector or specific investments, such as project
preparation and access to finance. It is operationalized through
country-specific Compacts, with concrete targets, that have been signed for
each PALOP. 



For its part, Portugal
has made available €400 million in guarantees in 2019 to back Bank financing
for private sector and PPP projects in the PALOPs.&nbsp; And the Bank is contributing its own
financing as well as resources for the administration of the Lusophone
Compact.&nbsp; Additionally, it is important
to stress that the PALOPs themselves are equal partners in this initiative:
they have a responsibility to work on enabling the private sector investments
in their countries, and the Compact also seeks to leverage intra-PALOP
investments and sharing of best practices.&nbsp;
Finally, we are encouraged that other states and development finance
providers want to join or partner with the Lusophone Compact.



This brings me back to
the initial point: now is the time to invest in Lusophone Africa. 



Angola and Equatorial
Guinea have both embarked on ambitious programs to diversify their economies
away from natural resources. Mozambique, which is beginning to receive massive
investments related to the natural gas sector, also recognizes the need to grow
sectors like agribusiness and industry, to increase employment.&nbsp; Cabo Verde, already a middle-income country,
is seeking to diversify its economy too – attracting new types of tourists
while also growing its fishing and agribusiness sectors. São Tomé e Principe
and Guinea-Bissau, members of the Alliance of Small Island States, seek
sustainable investments that both promote growth and deal with their exposure
to climate change, including through the so-called “blue economy”.&nbsp; &nbsp;



All of these countries
are determined to increase trade, both among themselves and within their
regions, which include Africa’s largest economies. 



That is why the PALOP’s
are eyeing the 2019 Africa Investment Forum – the unique investment marketplace
for regional investments, pioneered by the African Development Bank last year.



A specific panel on Investing
in Lusophone Africa at this year’s Forum will shine the spotlight on these
opportunities. And, just as last year, numerous Board Room sessions will
involve projects in the PALOPs – including at least four that are eligible
under the Lusophone Compact. 



The African Development Bank is proud to be part of
this new dawn for the continent’s Portuguese-speaking economies. And we invite
you to join us.

Op-Ed: It’s time to invest in Portuguese-speaking African countries, here’s why

SAVE
THE DATE



All set for
second Africa Investment Forum 



What: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2019 Africa Investment Forum 



Who:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
African Development Bank, Partners



When: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 11-13 November 2019



Where: &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg,&nbsp;South Africa 



The second edition of the Africa Investment Forum, a game-changer to tilt capital flow into the continent, will take place from 11-13 November 2019 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg,&nbsp;South Africa.



The forum, organized by the African Development Bank and its partners,
is the largest multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary marketplace aimed at raising
capital, advancing projects to bankable stage and accelerating financial
closure of deals.



There is an urgent need to bridge
the gap between Africa’s available capital and bankable projects. Although
brimming with investment opportunities, financing Africa’s development needs
will require between $200 billion and $1.2 trillion yearly. Of this, about
$130-$170 billion a year is needed for infrastructure, according to data by the
African Development Bank.



The Bank is working with other
multilateral development partners and stakeholders to ensure that the Africa
Investment Forum becomes the continent’s key springboard for investment to meet
the massive infrastructure and development needs.



Like the previous edition, the 2019
Forum will bring together project sponsors, pension funds, sovereign wealth
funds, private investors, policy makers, private equity firms, and heads of
government to advance Africa’s economic transformation agenda.



The inaugural
edition broke the mold for investment in Africa. It featured some 63 projects
from across 24 countries and seven sectors valued at $46.9 billion.
&nbsp;&nbsp;



Save the date now to avoid missing out on the biggest transactional gathering of global and pan-African investors on the continent. We look forward to meeting you in Johannesburg.



Content provided by the African Development Bank

African Development Bank

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#AfricaInvestmentForum: Ghana’s COCOBOD signs historic $600 million cocoa deal

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AfDB shareholders approve 125% capital increase to maintain AAA rating

Op-Ed: Agribusiness: Africa’s new investment frontier

Op-Ed: Why global and Pan African investors need to set their sight on the 2019 #AfricaInvestmentForum

AfDB shareholders approve landmark $115bn capital increase

Op-Ed: It’s time to invest in Portuguese-speaking African countries, here’s why

The second edition of the #AfricaInvestmentForum, a game-changer to tilt capital flow into the continent

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African Development Bank

Op-Ed: Gender equality: It’s time for disruption, time to shatter the status quo. We can’t afford to wait!

Africa Investment Forum: Anohu-Amazu: The real work starts after the forum

Africa Investment Forum: How DFC & AfDB to mobilize private capital for Africa

Op-Ed: Raising capital to finance development – the AfDB as innovator and catalyst

Africa Investment Forum: Kalagadi Manganese’s Mashile-Nkosi on funding, women empowerment & gender diversity

Africa Investment Forum: IsDB looks to expand footprint in PPPs on the continent

Op-Ed: The #AfricaInvestmentForum: an accelerator for Africa’s agricultural transformation

Africa Investment Forum: AfDB: How the forum can address gender equality on the continent

Africa Investment Forum: Why Morocco is an attractive place to invest – AfDB

#AfricaInvestmentForum: Ghana’s COCOBOD signs historic $600 million cocoa deal

Victor Oladokun: Here’s what to expect from the Africa Investment Forum

AfDB shareholders approve 125% capital increase to maintain AAA rating

Op-Ed: Agribusiness: Africa’s new investment frontier

Op-Ed: Why global and Pan African investors need to set their sight on the 2019 #AfricaInvestmentForum

AfDB shareholders approve landmark $115bn capital increase

Op-Ed: It’s time to invest in Portuguese-speaking African countries, here’s why

The second edition of the #AfricaInvestmentForum, a game-changer to tilt capital flow into the continent

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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