Wednesday, November 2
9:00 - 12:30
*Note: Please meet in the green room 30min prior to the session start time to be mic’d up
About the Africa Investment Forum:
Africa Investment Forum 2022 is the continent’s largest transactional investment marketplace. It will bring together deal sponsors, deal brokers and deal makers from around the world. This year’s Market Days event will be the first face-to-face gathering since 2019.
Launched in 2018 by the African Development Bank, AIF provides investors with access to a deal platform, offering bankable and de-risked projects with strong support from Africa’s leading development finance institutions. It is this transactional focus that distinguishes AIF from other African business summits. In addition to the public plenaries and the panel sessions, there will be private boardrooms that focus on specific deals at the Market Days.
Session Description: Opening Plenary
The opening session of the Africa Investment Forum will set the tone for what is anticipated to be a highly successful transactional investment marketplace. Panelists will discuss the geoeconomic environment in which African countries seek to attract investments and sustain growth, despite fears of a global recession. African countries have proven their economic resilience through the global financial crisis of 2008, the commodity cycle contraction of 2015/16 and COVID, and this period will not be different.
Session Goals:
- Set the tone for the Forum, emphasizing the Market Day focus on transactions
- Discuss opportunities resulting from the global pressure to diversify critical supply chains
- Discuss opportunities resulting from the new global focus on climate, especially as COP27 approaches in Egypt
- Discuss how Africa’s leading DFIs can drive sustainable growth
- Hear from Africa’s global partners about how investment can accelerate economic transformation
Session Format:
This opening session, consisting of opening remarks from Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President, African Development Bank Group, and H.E. Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, and a moderated panel discussion with four panelists. The panel will be one lively conversation with a moderator who knows the topic instead of a set of sequential monologues. Answers and interventions should be short and example-rich, with everyone speaking in sentences rather than paragraphs. Long introductions will not be made for panelists as full bios and background information is available to the audience.
Welcome and Opening Remarks:
- Niale Kaba, Minister of Planning and Development of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire
- Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President, African Development Bank Group
- H.E. Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire
Moderators:
- Victor Oladokun, Senior Advisor to the President of African Development Bank Group
- Marie-Angele Toure, TV Journalist
Panelists:
- Tunde Folawiyo, Chairman, Yinka Folawiyo Group
- Prakash Hinduja, Chairman, Hinduja Group in Europe
- Reta Jo Lewis, President and Chair of the Board of Directors, Export–Import Bank of the United States
- Ronnie Ntuli, Founder and Chairman, Thelo Group
Questions to Consider:
- What is your experience investing across African markets? What have been the challenges? the successes? the flagship transactions? (all panelists)
- How will investments made in infrastructure change the value proposition for global investors? (Ronnie Ntuli)
- How do we mobilize the broader global African diaspora to invest in sustainable growth in the region? What is the outlook for the creative industries? (Tunde Folawiyo)
- What is the role of family business in African economic development? How can we ensure that family businesses sustain over time and shape the economic landscape in African markets? (Prakash Hinduja and Tunde Folawiyo)
- How are global economic forces pushing investors to look to Africa? The results of the tragic conflict in Ukraine and pressure on food, fuel, the fertilizer supply chains? The new focus on climate investing? (Reta Jo Lewis)
- What opportunities do you see as most attractive going into the next year? (all panelists)