By Andrei Skvarsky.
An Africa-focused multinational three-day investment forum this month organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and eight other institutions resulted in deals totalling $29.2bn, a sum larger than expected, AfDB said.
The deals were the result of Market Days, a regular feature of the annual Africa Investment Forum (AIF). This year’s AIF was held in Rabat on December 4-6.
December’s Market Days brought together investors and delegates from 83 countries who numbered 2,300 or 60 per cent more than the participants in last year’s meeting, AfDB said in a statement.
Altogether 37 agreements were signed underlying projects in sectors including transport, energy, agribusiness, mining, pharmaceuticals, tourism, urban infrastructure, water management and sanitation. The AfDB statement cited the lender’s president, Akinwumi Adesina, as saying more deals were planned.
This month’s Market Days drew more interest from investors than anticipated.
For example, $4.8bn was raised for an agro-industrial project in Nigeria instead of the target of $975m, Adesina said.
Interest in projects initiated by Morocco and Democratic Republic of Congo also beat expectations.
AIF’s founders, besides AfDB, are Africa50, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Africa Finance Corporation, the Islamic Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Trade and Development Bank and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).