Africa50’s CEO Ebobissé clarifies how African Investment Forum is different from other forums

According to Alain Ebobissé, the African Investment Forum’s work streams on project preparation, and bankability, coupled with promoting investment and improving the policy environment, are very much on target and these were the parts of Africa50’s priorities.

The African Development Bank in association with its partners is going to organize the second edition of the African Investment Forum, which is slated to take place between November 11 to 13 this year at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The African Investment Forum is considered the largest multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary marketplace aimed at raising capital, advancing projects to bankable stage and enhancing financial closure of deals. The group is giving its endeavors with other multilateral development partners and stakeholders to ensure that the Forum emerges as the continent's key springboard for investment to meet the massive infrastructure and development needs.

The experts believe that there is an immediate requirement to bridge the gap between Africa's available capital and bankable projects. The development needs in Africa will require between USD 200 billion and USD 1.2 trillion every year. According to the African Development Bank, around USD 130 to 170 billion is required every year for infrastructure.

The Chief Executive Officer of Africa50, Alain Ebobissé has shared his insight in a conversation with the African Development Bank (AfDB) on the imminent African Investment Forum. Africa50 is an infrastructure investment platform that contributes to the continent's growth by developing and investing in bankable projects, catalyzing public sector capital, and mobilizing private sector funding, with differentiated financial returns and impact.

"The Africa Investment Forum, with its high-level, well-focused audience, ranks among the best. Its strength is that it is very transaction-oriented. The Forum not only brings together investors and stakeholders to initiate deals, but can help close transactions that would otherwise take months or years," Alain Ebobissé said in an introduction of the upcoming Forum.

Alain Ebobissé was asked to share his experiences of the inaugural Africa Investment Forum. He said that there were 45 meetings in total including three boardroom sessions with project developers, sponsors investment firms and government entities who were eager to discuss and close deals. "This allowed us to build up our project pipeline. Two projects discussed during the Forum are moving forward. The Africa Investment Forum was also an excellent networking opportunity with high-level government officials, including heads of states. Discussing projects with such decision makers is critical as it can accelerate the approval and development process," he said.

According to him, the Forum's work streams on project preparation, and bankability, coupled with promoting investment and improving the policy environment, are very much on target and these were the parts of Africa50's priorities. "Almost 70 percent of the projects that were initiated at last year's Africa Investment Forum concern infrastructure, so the Africa Investment Forum was a great venue for Africa50," he cited. The preliminary two major projects were implemented after the 2018 Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg – one was Kigali Innovation City and the second was the road-rail bridge linking Brazzaville and Kinshasa. According to him, both create new hubs in the center of Africa – the first for innovation and the second for transportation. The two projects are valued at USD 850 million.

While comparing the African Investment Forum with other similar forums, the pan-African infrastructure investment platform, Africa50's Chief clarified that it not only brings together investors and stakeholders to initiate deals, but can help close transactions that would otherwise take months or years. In infrastructure, he continued, this makes a significant difference since the financial and opportunity costs of project delays are high. The Forum's strength was defined by him 'very transaction-oriented'.

He also emphasized on the association between the private and public financial institutions to ensure more influx of resources that is quite crucial to get deals off the ground. "The Africa Investment Forum is actually a marketplace for deals, not a conference. This requires more involvement on the part of participants, which leads to better collaboration between commercial banks and DFIs to provide a broader array of financial products to fund infrastructure," he added.

He was also questioned to clarify the strategies adopted in mobilizing the next Forum. In reply, Africa 50's CEO Ebobissé said that the work of sending the appropriate high-level staff is on the verge to start. It will be accomplished in four ways – by promoting our thought leadership on infrastructure development during panel discussions; by promoting our newly launched Innovation Challenge, which focuses on increasing access to last-mile internet connectivity in under-served areas in Africa; by engaging in project-specific transactions and negotiations, during boardroom sessions and will engage with high-level government officials, including Heads of State or Government on specific projects or to encourage them to become Africa50 shareholders.