The African Development Bank (AfDB) says it has secured significant resources for the Lagos-Abidjan highway, the construction of which is underway.
“During the Virtual Forum on Investment in Africa, held in March this year, we gathered US$15.6 billion (over 10.350 billion CFA francs) of investment for the construction of the Lagos-Abidjan highway,” said on Wednesday, the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina.
He was speaking at the opening of the 3rd edition of the Africa Investment Forum (November 2-4, 2022.) in Abidjan
Adesina, also said that “this highway, which connects 75 percent of trade in West Africa, will help stimulate growth, trade and investment in the entire region.”
At the forum, which brought together more than 1,500 participants, Mr. Adesina added: “Today, President Ouattara, President Akufo-Addo and President Talon will discuss the location of the project secretariat, as we set it in motion.”
During the three days of the forum, “we will have identified several investment-ready projects for you, the investors,” he added.
According to the AfDB boss these range from renewable energy to hydroelectricity, gas infrastructure, railroads, roads and shipping.
The project portfolio also includes agriculture, health, mining, fertilizer manufacturing, port infrastructure and green urban transport, as well as sports, urban housing and private equity.
“We have investments targeting women-led businesses,” he went on.
“Moody’s analyses of infrastructure investment defaults over 14 years show that Africa has the lowest default rate in the world (5.5 percent), compared to Latin America (12.9 percent), Asia (8.8 percent), Eastern Europe (8.6 percent), North America (7.6 percent) and Western Europe (5.9 percent),” he noted.
Mr. Adesina argued that “Africa is not as risky” as investors think, stressing that “the perception is not the same as the reality.”
The objective of the Africa Investment Forum is to ensure that “investments land in Africa like a plane on a smooth runway.”
More than US$100 billion (more than 66,000 billion CFA francs) of transactional deals are expected at this forum, organized by the African Development Bank (AfDB), in collaboration with host country, Cote d’Ivoire.
AP/fss/as/APA