Panafrican News Agency

Africa Investment Forum to host third edition of Market Days in Abidjan

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (PANA) - The Africa Investment Forum will hold its 2021 Market Days in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from the 1-3 December 2021, showcasing transformative investment opportunities across the continent, many of which hold the potential to drive Africa’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Invited participants to this third edition of the annual business gathering,  including investors, project sponsors and decision-makers, will be presented with a pipeline of deals that are ready for investment.

Africa Investment Forum is a multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary platform that advances private and public-private-partnership projects to bankability, raises capital, and accelerates deals to financial closure.

According to an announcement by the African Development Bank on Friday, Market Days 2021 will be held in a hybrid format. There will be boardroom sessions, where deals are agreed among those physically present, while other attendees will participate virtually.

Discussions at the event will focus on many different sectors, notably: agriculture and agro-processing; energy and climate; health; ICT and telecommunication; and industrialisation and trade. These sectors are prioritised under the Africa Investment Forum’s Unified Response to Covid-19 initiative, launched in 2020.  

Boardroom sessions, where deals are finalised, will feature projects that are women-led; are in Africa’s creative industries; and promote financial, economic, and social sustainability.

“We look forward to welcoming investors to join us in Abidjan – and virtually around the world – to take the next step in Africa’s growth,” said Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank.

“To achieve this growth, however, and to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, Africa will need significant financial support. As an example. the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa will need $425 billion in additional gross financing by 2030,” he added.

A flagship initiative of the African Development Bank, the Forum was launched in 2018 with seven other founding partners: Africa 50; the Africa Finance Corporation; the African Export-Import Bank; the Development Bank of Southern Africa; the Trade and Development Bank; the European Investment Bank; and the Islamic Development Bank.

-0- PANA AR 17Sept2021