COVID-19: Africa Investiment Forum To Invest $3.79bn In 15 Private Sector Projects

The founding partners of the Africa Investment Forum have identified 15 projects for priority funding under its unified COVID-19 response which will gulp $3.79 billion to restart Africa’s economy from the devastation of the pandemic. According to a statement on Monday, the decision was reached during a two-day virtual meeting with current and prospective partners, investors and project sponsors.

The sectors in which the projects are situated include agriculture and agro-processing, energy, health, ICT and telecoms, and industry and trade.

They include a dairy processing project in Angola, a vaccine manufacturing plant in Kenya, a cotton manufacturing project in Mozambique and a proprietary telemedicine platform in Nigeria.

“Collectively, these 15 deals which are from the forum’s current portfolio, amount to $3.79 billion and will help increase the continent’s self-sufficiency and resilience against future shocks,” the statement read.

Speaking at the meeting,  AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina said: “Africa will come out of this pandemic, tough as it is, and will build better and stronger economies.

“As partners of the Africa Investment Forum, the premier investment platform for Africa, our gaze must be clear; help Africa reboot its economy.”

Also speaking at the meeting, Chinelo Anohu, head and senior director of the Africa Investment Forum, said the forum is trying to focus our partner’s efforts on the platform’s bankable deals from the 2018 and 2019 portfolio, as well as some new ones in 2020.

“We are concentrating not just on the health sector, but also on other sectors that will help jumpstart recovery across the continent,” Anohu said, adding that deals “more responsive” to the pandemic are being curated, in order to provide much-needed support to the private sector.

The statement added that the forum has facilitated the closure of eight deals valued at $2.18 billion from the 2018 portfolio.