E-Financial
Africa Investment Forum 2022 Draws $31 billion in Investor Interest
This year’s just concluded Africa Investment Forum Market Days—the continent’s premier investment platform—has drawn $31 billion in investment interest from African and global investors.
Combined with $32.8 billion from the rescheduled 2021 Africa Investment Forum Market days—which took place as virtual boardrooms in March this year—the forum has mobilized a total of $63.8 billion of investment interest this year.
The three-day event, held in the Ivorian commercial capital, Abidjan, attracted the participation of several African heads of state and government. The leaders chaired boardrooms and led transactions with potential investors. They included Vice President Tiémoko Meyliet Koné of Côte d’Ivoire, who represented President Alassane Ouattara.
Others were President Sahle-Work Zewde of Ethiopia; President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana; President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe; Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor of Liberia; Vice President Philip Mpango of Tanzania; Prime Minister José Ulisses Correia e Silva n of Cabo Verde; and Prime Minister Patrick Achi of Côte d’Ivoire.
This year’s Market Days event—the third since 2018—took place under the theme: ‘Building Economic Resilience through Sustainable Investments.’ It was held amid global economic challenges that have been compounded by the impacts of climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war.
The event showcased the Africa Investment Forum’s founding partners’ joint resolve to help unleash Africa’s investment potential in such critical sectors as infrastructure, agriculture, energy, education, the creative industries, sports, and transactions that champion women entrepreneurs.
The forum’s founding partners are the African Development Bank, Africa50, Afrexim Bank, the Africa Finance Corporation, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the European Investment Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Trade and Development Bank.
The partners said the results this year have exceeded expectations, given that the world is currently grappling with so many unprecedented economic challenges.
African Development Bank President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina commended the forum’s outcomes and the partners’ commitment.
He said: “Despite the challenges, we are not afraid, and neither have we despaired nor lost hope. We are excited and committed to a collective goal… accelerating the closure of deals to transform Africa and its investment landscape.”
Adesina said the Africa Investment Forum’s focus is to attract more foreign direct investment to Africa and ensure the private sector remains the driving force of that transformation.
“The private sector is Africa’s growth accelerator. We must mitigate real and perceived risks and persuade the private sector that investing in Africa is safe,” he emphasized.
Islamic Development Bank President Dr. Muhammed Sulaiman Al Jasser said in a message his organization was hopeful that “our commitment and dedication to the AIF will translate into tangible and measurable outcomes for the benefit of our member countries across Africa.”
Al Jasser restated the Islamic Development Bank Group’s commitment to support transformative African projects, especially those promoting resilience, financial, economic, and social sustainability.
Trade and Development Bank Group President and Chief Executive Admassu Tadesse underscored the value of the “AIF spirit” in doing more to advance and close investments.
Tadesse stressed: “Notwithstanding ongoing global crises, we have to keep our eye on the ball. We must continue to encourage and enable investment in agriculture and industry, as well as infrastructure. Growing our own food and manufacturing more will enable us to trade more. It will lead to less overall greenhouse gas emissions linked to imports from far away, in the process also generating more employment and opportunities for our peoples.”
European Investment Bank President Werner Hoyer said while travelling to COP27: “A diversity of ambitious and wide-ranging initiatives” attracted high interest at this year’s Market Days.
“At the European Investment Bank, we are excited to see how the creativity and vision of African innovators are making an impact, particularly in the area of technology which holds such great potential for Africa’s future,” Hoyer said.
Mohan Vivekanandan, Group Executive Origination and Coverage, Development Bank of Southern Africa, noted that a unique feature of this year’s forum was that it focused on transactions.
“It’s about the project sponsors, the project developers and how we as development financiers help them get their vision implemented to improve the quality of life of Africans, and how we promote economic growth, job creation and industrialization,” Vivekanandan said.
Africa Finance Corporation President and CEO Samaila Zubairu said: “The current global economic challenges indicate the critical need to build Africa’s self-sufficiency by investing in resilient infrastructure. Such critical investment is needed to drive Africa’s industrialization and economic prosperity.”
Africa50 CEO Alain Ebobisse said the Africa Investment Forum presented a timely platform to help scale up and speed up investments into Africa, especially as partners strive to build the continent’s resilience to economic shocks and climate change.
Ebobisse said: “Attracting new pools of capital into infrastructure will be critical. More specifically, Africa’s institutional investors, such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds must play a critical role and will be the game changers for Africa’s infrastructure development.”
Afreximbank President Benedict Oramah said: “This year’s Africa Investment Forum reflects, in the number, attitudes and diversity of its attendees, the interest and optimism of global investors towards the continent and its opportunities.
“We close, knowing that the AIF, Africa’s largest transactional investment marketplace, continues to be a huge success. Moreover, the event serves as a measure of international confidence in Africa’s economic and political development, and the unmatched investment opportunities this is creating.”
Africa Investment Forum Senior Director Chinelo Anohu said: “A lot of the successes recorded by the Africa Investment Forum are domiciled in the spirit of the partnership. It’s up to us to ensure the continent is what it ought to be.”
Since its inception in 2018, the Africa Investment Forum platform has mobilized over $100 billion in investment interests.
Ecobank Nigeria Limited has fully repaid bondholders who validly tendered their notes ahead of the February 2026 maturity date.
The bank announced the successful completion of its tender offer, under which it prepaid approximately $245 million of its $300 million Eurobond, representing more than 80 per cent of the total issuance.
According to a statement, the transaction relates to the 7.125 per cent Senior Note Participation Notes due February 2026.
Ecobank Nigeria Limited said it launched a tender offer to eligible noteholders in respect of the outstanding $150 million on the bond on November 27, 2025, providing them with an opportunity to redeem their holdings ahead of the original maturity date of 16 February 2026.
It stated that the early and late tender participation deadlines were 11 December 2025 and 29 December 2025, respectively.
According to the bank, holders of notes validly tendered and accepted received a cash consideration of $1,000 per $1,000 in principal amount, in addition to accrued interest from the last interest payment date up to, but excluding, the final settlement date of 31 December 2025.
Following completion of the offer, the bank said the outstanding principal amount of the notes has been reduced to approximately $55.092 million.
The bank also stated that the initiative reflects Ecobank Nigeria’s proactive approach to liability management and prudent balance sheet optimisation.
The tender offer was conducted with Renaissance Capital Africa (Renaissance Securities Nigeria Limited) acting as financial adviser and dealer manager, while Sodali & Co Limited served as tender agent.
The notes were originally issued by EBN Finance Company B.V., with limited recourse to the issuer, for the sole purpose of financing the purchase of the $300 million 7.125 per cent Senior Note due 2026 issued by Ecobank Nigeria Limited.
GTBank has reminded customers of the new stamp duty rules under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, which take effect from January 1, 2026.
According to an email received by a GT Bank customer on Tuesday, under the new regulation, the ₦50 stamp duty on electronic transfers of ₦10,000 or more will now be paid by the sender, not the recipient.
GTBank clarified that certain transactions will remain exempt from the charge.
“Please be reminded that, in line with the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, which took effect from January 1, 2026, the ₦50 stamp duty on electronic bank transfers of ₦10,000 and above is paid by the sender of the transaction and not the receiver.
“These include transfers below ₦10,000, salary payments, and transfers between a customer’s own GTBank accounts,” the message read.
The bank also noted that the stamp duty is separate from regular transfer fees and will be clearly displayed before completing any transaction, ensuring transparency for customers.
GTBank encouraged customers to review their transfers carefully and plan accordingly, as the update is part of nationwide efforts to streamline compliance with the Nigeria Tax Act 2025.
Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) says its replacement with the defunct Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) will overhaul the architecture of the country’s revenue administration.
Dr Zacch Adedeji, the executive chairman of NRS, said this in a television interview monitored from Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the provision of the recently enacted tax reform laws changes the nomenclature of the country’s apex tax authority from FIRS to NRS.
According to Adedeji, NRS is not branding. It is a total institutional upgrade moving from fragmented revenue administration to a modern, digitalised, centralised and intelligence-driven system.
He said that under the new framework, multiple tax and revenue-related functions previously spread across agencies have been consolidated, with a stronger emphasis on data integration, automation, and reduced human discretion.
He dismissed allegations that the country’s newly enacted tax reform laws were altered after passage by the National Assembly.
“Only the officially gazetted Acts carry legal authority and are binding on taxpayers and administrators,” he said.
The NRS boss said that an Act of the National Assembly only became effective after Presidential assent and official gazetting, with the gazetted version constituting the authoritative text in the event of disputes.
“Revenue agencies, courts, and taxpayers are therefore guided solely by the gazetted law, not draft bills, committee reports or chamber debates.
“Neither the executive nor the revenue authority has any incentive or legal capacity to alter the law after passage,” he said.
Adedeji said that the overhaul of the NRS is also designed to support the Federal Government’s broader fiscal objectives.
According to him, Nigeria’s tax-to-GDP ratio has improved in recent years, rising to about 13.5 per cent as at October 2025.
“But it remains below the African average and well short of levels seen in peer emerging markets,” he said.
Adedeji said that the overall aim is on taxing profits and returns rather than capital or investment.
“We are not going to tax poverty; we want to tax prosperity,” he said.
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