African leaders summon for further private sector engagement at TICAD 7

The 7^th Tokyo International Conference on African Development 2019 ended on Friday, August 30. The President of African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina addressed Plenary Session 3 on Public-Private Business Dialogue: Enhance Trade and Investment between Japan and Africa.

Chaired by President of Egypt, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and co-chaired by President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe officially opened the session at 7^th Tokyo International Conference on African Development 2019 (TICAD 7) and the other eminent stalwarts like President of Namibia, Hage Geingob, President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari and President of Niger, Mahamadou Issoufou including the African continent's top industry giants were present.

According to African Development Bank aka AfDB's chief, Akinwumi Adesina, Africa needs quality infrastructure, and presents the biggest deal of all – a market investment of USD 68 to 108 billion a year, and there is an augmented foreign direct investment all across Africa. "TICAD, China-Africa Forum, India-Africa Forum, US-Africa Forum the Russia-Africa Forum. What do they all see? A population of two billion people. Rapid urbanization, with increased demand and infrastructure and the world's largest youth population," Akinwumi Adesina said.

The AfDB chief also urged the Japanese companies "to be at the table and on the ground in Africa," because "the truth is, there is no risk-free environment – not even in Japan. In reality, perceived risks in Africa are actually much higher than real risks." "Africa presents a compelling return for investors," Akinwumi Adesina added. He highlighted the requirement to rapidly end stunting at the Global Panel on Agriculture & Food Systems for Nutrition (GPAN) - Ending Malnutrition in Africa: Towards Nutrition for Growth 2020 & Beyond.

"We have a responsibility in our time to unite, to defeat the twin scourges of stunting and malnutrition," Adesina said, while VP Jennifer Blanke offered the Bank's approach and perspectives on combatting malnutrition. "The Bank is rolling out a nutrition lens across all its agricultural investment. I want to tell policy makers, think about all the investments in education, investing in nutrition is also a good investment," she stated.

The discussion on "How to mobilise private sector investment for sustainable infrastructure development in Africa and the role of the financial sector" attracted comment from Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala Vice President for Finance and Chief Finance Officer for AfDB who revealed the bank's role in assisting crowd in the private sector to bridge Africa's infrastructure gap.

"With its unique position in Africa, the Bank leverages its AAA rating and its Preferred Creditor Status (PCS) to attract private financing for development by covering risks that private investors are unable or unwilling to absorb or mitigate," Bajabulile Swazi Tshabalala said.

Also Read: TICAD 7: South Africa, Japan, AfDB's chiefs emphasize on Africa's tech transformation journey