President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced Kenya would double its current shareholding investment in Africa50 to US$ 100 million.
In his keynote address at the Africa50 General Shareholders Meeting held in Nairobi, Kenyatta said support for bankable projects in energy, transport, ICT, water and sanitation provide unprecedented opportunities for private sector participation.
Akinwumi Adesina African Development Bank President and Chairman of Africa50 commended the country’s bold commitment to and investments in infrastructure development over the last 5 years.
“The private sector must step up and help us close the infrastructure gap on the African continent. Public funding is limited, and there are competing priorities,” he said.
Private sector infrastructure financing in Africa remains low, averaging US$ 6 billion per year. In 2016, the figure dipped to US$ 2.6 billion.
The continent’s infrastructure funding requirements stand at close to US$ 170 billion a year, leaving a financing gap of US$ $68 – 108 billion. According to the African Development Bank.
“We must work smart to attract greater levels of investment financing for infrastructure development in Africa. Globally, there is approximately a US$ 120 trillion pool of savings and private equity. Africa must creatively attract some of this into the continent. ”says Adesina.
In response to Africa’s infrastructure finance deficit, the African Development Bank has launched the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) set to take place in South Africa in November 2018. The transaction-based forum is expected to be a gathering of global pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and institutional investors, and key private sector players.
