African Investment Forum

10th November 2018
by secretary

Paepard

7-9 November, 2018. Johannesburg, South Africa. African Investment Forum. Around 350 investors from 53 countries from across the globe were in attendance with 30 of these representing African countries. The rest were from outside the continent including representatives from United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, France, United States, China, Japan and Switzerland.

Close to 80% of the investment ready deals that were being negotiated in the boardrooms of the Africa investment Forum have been signed.

At the beginning of the inaugural forum 61 projects with a value of $40.4-billion were set to be discussed in closed boardroom discussions between investors, governments and promoters. On Friday, the last day of the conference, 45 of those deals worth R32-billion had been closed.

Extract of the progrramme

AGRIBUSINESS: INVESTMENT CONVERSATION WITH INDUSTRY LEADERS
Industry leaders discuss investment opportunities in the agriculture sector.

Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for Internal Market and Services, EC
Mrs. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Minister of Finance of Nigeria

Investment Roundtable:

Aliko Dangote, Chairman and CEO, Dangote Group
William Asiko, CEO, Grow Africa
John George Coumantaros, Chairman of the Board, Flour Mills of Nigeria
Roberto Ridolfi*, Special Advisor on strategy and financing development, FAO
TP Nchocho, CEO, Land and Agricultural Bank of South Africa
Julie Gichuru, Founder and CEO, Arimus Media Limited (moderator)

INVESTING IN COMMODITY EXCHANGES

Large and growing net food imports demonstrate that there are substantial markets for prospective agribusiness investors to address, worth over US$100bn by year by 2025. However, today, Africa’s participation in the global agricultural commodity and value added market remains limited, at only 2%. This session discussed investment opportunities for producers and buyers in a more structured food trade eco-system.

Investment Roundtable:
There is a need to invest US$45 billion per year to harness the power of agriculture and move up the value chain to create jobs and wealth. At present, only US$7 billion is invested in the sector. Investments from the private sector will create the adequate environment and enhance the emergence of locally owned agro-processing industries, capable of creating jobs and increasing incomes in rural Africa. The continent could become a net exporter of agricultural commodities, replacing US$110 billion worth of imports, as well as doubling its share of market value for select processed commodities.

Jennifer Blanke, Vice President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development, African Development Bank
Agriculture is a key priority for the African Development Bank, through our Feed Africa strategy. Understand that by transforming Africa’s agriculture sector it will become the engine that drives Africa’s economic transformation through increased income, better jobs higher on the value chain, improved nutrition, and so on.
John Coumantaros, Chairman of the Board, Flour Mills Nigeria
Jendayi E. Frazer, Managing Partner, Africa Exchange Holdings, Limited
TP Nchocho, CEO, Land Bank
Kevin Njiraini, Regional Director, Southern Africa and Nigeria, International Finance Corporation
Ramsey Day, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, USAID – Jodi Engelberg, Founding Member, The ValueWeb (moderator)

Financing pitches:

Ayodeji Balogun, Regional Director, Africa Exchange Holdings, Ltd., Nigeria
Joshua Rugema, Country Director, East Africa Exchange, Rwanda
Kristian Moller, CEO, Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa, Malawi

INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS TO POSITION AFRICA AT THE TOP OF AGRICULTURAL VALUE CHAINS
Investment opportunities in infrastructure that will transform the African rural landscape into economic zones of prosperity. The role of Staple Crop Processing Zones in laying out the foundation for Africa’s agro-industrialisation and contribution to lifting millions of Africans out of poverty.

Investment Roundtable:

Hon. Gugile Nkiwinti, Minister of Water and Sanitation of South Africa
Jennifer Blanke, Vice President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development, African Development Bank
Nialé Kaba, Minister of Planning and Development, Cote d’Ivoire Department for International Trade
Ronnie Ntuli, CEO, Thelo

Financing Pitches:

Hon. Higino Marrule, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Republic of Mozambique
Hon. Mrs. Fetlework Gebre-Egzihaber, Minister of Industry and Trade, Ethiopia
Hon. Michael Katambo, Minister of Agriculture, Zambia
Gabriel Curtis, Ministre, Ministère des Investissements et des Partenariats Publics Privés, Guinee

OTHER PANELS

INVESTING IN WOMEN FOR ACCELERATED GROWTH

Key challenges faced by women-led businesses. Innovative financing tools to close the gap. Identifying the catalytic drivers and opportunities to scale up investments in women. Best practices around gender lens investing.

Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina, President, African Development Bank
Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau*, Minister of International Development, Canada
Ibukun Awosika, Chairman, First Bank of Nigeria Limited
Salwa Akhannouch*, Founder and CEO, Aksal Group
Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, Executive Chairperson, Kalagadi Manganese
Bronwyn Nielsen, Anchor-at-large, CNBC Africa (moderator)

G20 COMPACT WITH AFRICA (CWA) THE POLICY PANEL
The creation and sustainability of enabling investment environments.

Hon. Tito Titus Mboweni, Minister of Finance, South Africa
Hon. Wolfgang Schmidt, State Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany
Hon. Jim Carr*, Minister of International Trade Diversification, Canada
Hon. Jens Frølich Holte, State Secretary International Development, Norway
Ian Steff, Assistant Secretary for Global Markets and Director General of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce
Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank

Investment Roundtable by Compact with Africa Ministers:

Hon. Thierry Tanoh, Minister of Petroleum, Energy, and Renewable Energy, Cote d’Ivoire
Hon. Zied Ladhari, Minister of Development, Investment and International Cooperation, Tunisia
Hon. Sileshi Bekele, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Ethiopia
Hon. Mohammed Benchaaboun, Minister of Economy and Finance, Morocco
Bronwyn Nielsen, Anchor-at-large, CNBC Africa (moderator)

Source: PAEPARD FEED

African Investment Forum

Share

You might also like