A hundred and thirty-six bankable projects worth a combined total of $246 billion, in the natural resources, agribusiness, power and critical infrastructure sectors, will be presented at The Global African Investment Summit (TGAIS) in London on October 20-21.
Many African economies have grown exponentially over the last decade and the upward trajectory is expected to continue.
A recent World Bank report projects regional GDP growth to strengthen to 5.2 percent yearly in 2015-16 from 4.6 percent in 2014, due to significant public investment in infrastructure, increased agricultural production and expanding services in African retail, telecoms, transportation, and finance.
Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, PE firms, asset managers, bankers, corporates, professional services firms and project developers will convene at the Savoy Hotel to review the continent’s most bankable projects in strategic sectors spurring the continent’s growth and competitiveness: power and transport infrastructure, agribusiness, natural resources and tourism.
The Summit, chaired by former President of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo, is seeking to direct funds from some of the world’s largest institutional investors into quality projects across the continent, with a focus on Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, whose Presidents will open the Summit.
Chief Obasanjo remarked “today Africa stands as the last great frontier in emerging markets. Its attractiveness is real. More than $200bn worth of capital under management will be represented at TGAIS. That’s a staggering figure. Its money that I hope we can direct towards agribusinesses, power and energy projects and vital infrastructure over the course of the Summit.”
The 136 projects due to be presented range from a crude oil pipeline development project worth $5 billion in Uganda to a pineapple production and processing project in Ghana worth US$341 million.
Infrastructure investors will be able to engage the developers of the planned $13.5 billion Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali railway and the teams behind port expansions and upgrades, urban rail and airport projects in Uganda and Ghana.
Investors will also hear pitches from the developers of a range of power generation and distribution projects spanning the full energy mix from traditional sources to renewables and ranging from 35MW to 4800MW in locations across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tunisia, Rwanda, DRC, Benin, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and South Africa.
The DRC Government is presenting the Bukanga-Lonzo Agriculture Business Park project, an integrated production, processing and infrastructure initiative, which has a ticket of US$ 500million.
Ayo Salami, chief investment officer at global alternative asset management firm Duet Group, noted, “next week’s Global Africa Investment Summit in London is critical in facilitating transactions and building a more nuanced understanding of risk and opportunity on the ground. The more people engage actively with the continent, embracing the contradictions, the unpredictability and the incredible thirst for innovation, the better they will be placed to identify outsize returns.”
TGAIS is sponsored by a range of African and multinational companies, including Invest Africa, PwC, Sepco, Visa, Baker and McKenzie, Ecobank, Globeleq, Heritage Bank, Prudential, Seplat and Standard Chartered.
The calibre of sponsors and the high level of interest in the investor community has led to overwhelming demand and the summit has now sold out.
The inaugural Global African Investment Summit, run in partnership with four African state houses, is the only platform that brings together the public and private sectors to discuss specific transactions, access to finance and bankable projects in Sub Saharan Africa requiring investment and technology transfer.
African Presidents will travel to the event with Finance ministers, sector specific ministers and CEOs from state owned enterprises to address and hear from the global financial markets, project implementers, consultants and law firms about co-financing and executing their most pressing projects in agribusiness, natural resources, power, and transport infrastructure.