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<p>The European Union is funding a project worth R745 million to support the develop small to medium enterprises in South Africa. This will be used to address some of the challenges that SMMEs face, and to build the capacities of the key actors including government departments and the private sector.Daniel Chiwandamira, Programme Management &amp; Planning Expert for the Ecosystems Development for Small Enterprise (EDSE) spoke to CNBC Africa’s Kopano Gumbi.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: EU commits R745mn to developing South African SMMEs

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<p>The Gauteng Growth Development Agency, or GGDA, has been an integral partner in bringing the Africa Investment Forum to Sandton. CNBC Africa’s Kopano Gumbi spoke to Muzi Mathema, Acting Group Executive of Business Intelligence at GGDA about the investment attractiveness of the Province.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: Muzi Mathema of GDDA on why Gauteng is an investment destination of choice

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<p>On Monday, on the first day of the Africa Investment Forum in Sandton, CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor spoke to Wiebe Boer, CEO of All On. They spoke about Nigeria Energy Access Fund (NEAF) which is focused on investing in off-grid renewable energy companies in Nigeria.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: All On CEO Wiebe Boer on he is bullish about renewables on the continent

Africa Investment Forum: All On CEO Wiebe Boer on why he is bullish about renewables on the continent

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<p>Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, Chairperson of Kalagadi Manganese, has been involved with the African Development Bank (AfDB) for a number of years, having been funded by the bank. She spoke to CNBC Africa’s Kopano Gumbi about her shared interests with AfDB around gender diversity and giving opportunities to African businesswomen.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: Kalagadi Manganese’s Mashile-Nkosi on funding

Africa Investment Forum: Kalagadi Manganese’s Mashile-Nkosi on funding, women empowerment & gender diversity


<p>By Chris Bishop</p>



<p>The Africa Investment Forum declared it had secured $40.1
billion in investment – an increase on last year – after days of talking and
intense boardroom negotiations at the Sandton Convention Centre in
Johannesburg.</p>



<p>Hundreds of delegates from scores of countries around the
world got together in South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised
country, to try to attract billions from foreign investors to boost business
and fill a huge infrastructure gap. Organisers and delegates joked that it was
like : “speed dating on steroids”.</p>



<p>“We are winning because you are here, we are winning because
you have invested…we are winning together,” said Akinwumi Adesina, the head of
the African Development Bank and the proponent of the investment forum.</p>



<p>Fifty six deals worth $67.6 billion made it to the boardroom
discussions at the forum, a 44% increase on last year, of those, 52 made it to
approval. The deals , from 25 countries, secured investor interest worth $40.1
billion – an increase on the $37.1 billion garnered last year in the first
forum..</p>



<p>At the closing ceremony many of the scores of delegates
shared their experience of three days of talk of investment in Africa. Most
agreed the talks had been rigorous and disciplined.</p>



<p>“Risk is real,” said one delegate.</p>



<p>Ïf you are not in Africa you are not in business,” says
another.</p>



<p>The investment secured four projects in Nigeria, Africa’s
biggest economy, including a 500 MW power plant. </p>


This is how much was raised at the Africa Investment Forum

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<p>The interest of international investors in the African continent is growing, as can be seen by good attendance at the Africa Investment Forum held in Sandton. CNBC Africa’s Fifi Peters spoke to Markus Pietikäinen, Chief Investment Officer of Finnfund and Claude Baissac, CEO of Eunomix about their experience at the AIF, development of entrepreneurs, access to finance and other key issues.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: Eunomix CEO: How resource nationalism can be turned into a positive force in Africa

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<p>The African Trade Insurance Agency, Africa’s multilateral guarantee agency covering trade and investment flows across the continent, signed an MOU with European Investment Bank at the Africa Investment Forum. CNBC Africa’s Fifi Peters spoke to John Lentaigne from the Agency.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: African Trade Insurance Agency signs MoU with European Investment Bank

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<p>The Africa Investment Forum comes at an opportune time for Africa given the increase interest from investors and financier on the continent, says Mohamed Hedi Mejai, the Director of the Investments Department at Islamic Development Bank Group.  The Group is a founding partner of the AIF, along with the African Development Bank. He spoke to CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: IsDB looks to expand footprint in PPPs on the continent

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<p>Soon we will be turning our waste into energy firing industry from electricity. One of the projects discussed is a waste to energy plant in Gauteng Africa’s richest province that was discussed by Ernest Mahlaule, Chairman of the GGDA.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: How Africa’s richest province plans to turn waste into energy

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<p>As deals take centre stage at the second Africa Investment Forum – AfDB&#8217;s Vice President for Finance, Swazi Tshabalala says the investor feedback has been positive on the Africa Investment opportunity. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Kenneth Igbomor caught up with her on the sidelines of the forum.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: “Investor feedback has been positive” – VP of AfDB

Africa Investment Forum: “Investor feedback has been positive” – VP of AfDB, Swazi Tshabalala

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<p>The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is much more integrated into the deal rooms at the Africa Investment Forum than it was last year, looking at infrastructure development opportunities, gender balance and diversity opportunities and ensuring that the LSE is involved in the Africa debate around investment. CNBC Africa’s Kopano Gumbi spoke to Ibukun Adebayo, Co-Head of Emerging Markets at the London Stock Exchange for more.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: Ibukun Adebayo: Where the LSE sees investment opportunities on the continent

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<p>The second edition of the Africa Investment Forum, underway in Sandton this week, is looking at bigger targets for the African Development Bank. Tune in for the day two highlights of the forum&#8230;.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: Day two highlights

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<p>While some African airlines are ostensibly doing well, it remains challenging to own and operate an airline in Africa. Mark Tierney, CEO, Crabtree Capital, who has been involved in the aviation market in Africa for 21 years, spoke to CNBC Africa’s Kopano Gumbi at the Africa Investment Forum. They discuss challenges such as financing, cost of fuel, certainty of supply of aircraft and coordination, and potential solutions&#8230;.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: Crabtree Capital CEO Mark Tierney on challenges in Africa’s aviation sector

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<p>The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the East African Community (EAC) have signed an MoU for project development and implementation. Key sectors will include IT, infrastructure and healthcare. CNBC Africa&#8217;a Kopano Gumbi spoke to Bernard Mono, Head of Finance at East Africa Development Bank and Mohan Vivekanandan, Group Executive, Origination and Coverage at the DBSA.</p>


Africa Investment Forum: DBSA

Africa Investment Forum: DBSA, East African Community sign MoU for project development & implementation

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<p>The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has a long history with African countries, Mutsuya Mori, Vice President of JICA told CNBC Africa’s Kopano Gumbi. The Agency provides technical assistance, grant aids and loans for construction and infrastructure. Although it has previously focused on governments, it now realises that the private sector is an important partner in the social and economic development of Africa.</p>


Africa Investment Forum:  JICA President Mutsuya Mori on the private sector as an important partner in Africa’s growth


<p>By
Dr. Jennifer Blanke</p>



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-683x1024.jpg" alt="In much of Africa, 60% or more of the working population is employed in agriculture. And yet agriculture only contributes about one quarter of Africa’s GDP, with the continent mainly producing and exporting raw products and importing significant amounts of processed food." class="wp-image-349733" width="574" height="861" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-696x1044.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-1068x1602.jpg 1068w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB-280x420.jpg 280w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Jennifer-AfDB.jpg 1365w" sizes="(max-width: 574px) 100vw, 574px" /></figure></div>



<p>This week, business leaders, project developers, development finance professionals, institutional investors representing pension and sovereign wealth funds, as well as policymakers meet in Johannesburg for the second Africa Investment Forum convened by the African Development Bank. </p>



<p>The Forum is an innovative marketplace&nbsp;&#8211; dedicated to
moving development ideas and projects to bankability, to mobilizing capital,
and to accelerating the financial closure of deals that can improve the lives
of millions of people. Among other things, the Africa Investment Forum has the
potential to accelerate Africa’s agricultural transformation.</p>



<p>In much of Africa,
60% or more of the working population is employed in agriculture. And yet
agriculture only contributes about one quarter of Africa’s GDP, with the
continent mainly producing and exporting raw products and importing significant
amounts of processed food. The sector punches below its weight. And yet there
is huge potential for income and job creation if Africa can increase productivity
and move up the value chain to produce more, higher value-added, processed
food. </p>



<p>The bottom line is
that African agriculture must move from being a “way of life” to a resilient,
sustainable business sector that creates prosperity, jobs, as well as improves
incomes and livelihoods of rural people. The Africa Investment Forum convenes
players in the agriculture and agribusiness sector who come together to roll up
their sleeves and explore business and investment opportunities. The Forum’s concrete
“boardroom discussions” connect investment projects with investors. It brings
together entrepreneurs, project developers and investors interested in
agriculture to make deals. </p>



<p>Last year’s Africa Investment
Forum saw nearly 2,000 participants from 87 nations gather to discuss more than
$46 billion-worth of boardroom deals. One of the highlights was a transaction
involving Ghana Cocoa Board, designed to help Ghana’s cocoa sector – which
employs some 800,000 farm families, producing crops worth about $2 billion in
foreign exchange annually. The presence of Ghana’s Head of State, H.E. Nana
Akufo-Addo, in the boardroom session galvanized investor interest in a sector
so important for Ghana, one of the world’s top cocoa exporters. </p>



<p>This year, Ghana’s Cocoa Board
returns to the Forum to sign a Facility Agreement for a $600 million syndicated
receivables-backed term loan aimed at enhancing Ghana’s cocoa productivity. The investment deal – also involving Credit Suisse as well as
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited &#8211; was born out of the Africa
Investment Forum.</p>



<p>This
year’s Forum will also see a focus on Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones,
or SAPZs. There&nbsp; is often little
investment interest in Africa’s rural areas, due to a lack of transport, energy
and other critical infrastructure. SAPZs are a solution to connect rural areas
to regional and global supply chains, so that
they can produce higher value-added processed goods in areas of higher agricultural
productivity. SAPZs gather most or all the elements of an agricultural value
chain in one area: from farm to fork. Aside from attracting investment, SAPZs
are also important from a development perspective because that they help to
raise rural incomes and create job opportunities for Africa’s surging youth
population. </p>



<p>When
properly designed and well executed, SAPZs are powerful tools toward removing
barriers to access to technology, infrastructure and resources to Africa’s
industrialization. By increasing the transformation of products like cotton,
cashew nuts, cocoa and livestock, for example, SAPZs have the potential to
improve Africa’s overall trade balance. Many African countries have committed
to integrating SAPZs in their national development strategies – the Africa
Investment Forum will showcase SAPZ plans out of Benin, Chad, Ethiopia, Gabon,
Senegal, South Africa, and Togo.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The
Bank provides support to attract investors in the agro processing space via
fiscal, regulatory, and infrastructure incentives.&nbsp;To make the
concentrated, all-in-one-place SAPZ activity work smoothly, innovative
companies pursuing SAPZs in Africa need investors. </p>



<p>Investor
opportunity abounds, boosted by prospects of an integrated African market via the Continental Free Trade
Agreement (AfCFTA),
which promises to usher in the economies of
scale needed for SAPZ-produced
or processed goods to participate in strong
regional agriculture value chains catering to &nbsp;a population of more than a billion people with
a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion. This
can then provide a springboard to global markets. &nbsp;</p>



<p>We
see this vision for Ethiopia, a nation embracing the SAPZ concept with support
from African Development Bank and other partners, to promote the advancement of
Ethiopian crops like oilseed, wheat and maize, beef and dairy livestock and of
course, its world-famous coffee. With SAPZ projects launched in Ethiopia, the
impact is expected to translate into $1.5 billion in private sector investment
and the creation of 400,000 jobs – with 70% of them targeting youth. </p>



<p>We often hear the
clichés about ‘Africa Rising’ and Africa being the ‘new hot spot’ for
investment. Yet Africa has not suddenly appeared! It is home to more than half
of the world’s fertile, yet largely uncultivated, cropland. African agriculture
is a big business opportunity – by most estimates, the continent’s food and
agribusiness market will be worth one trillion US dollars by 2030. Yet this
requires investment.</p>



<p>Only $7 billion per
year is invested in Africa’s agriculture sector – that needs to rise to about
$45 billion per year to harness agriculture’s power and move Africa up the
value chain to create jobs and revenue. It is time to put investment money
where many mouths have been talking about Africa’s ‘Green Revolution,’ for
years. It is time to equip Africa with the financial tools to grow into the
reliable food production resource that feeds Africa as well as ensures that
Africa does its part to feed the world. It is time for Africa to move from an
aid paradigm to an investment paradigm &#8211; this is what we are doing this week at
the Africa Investment Forum, in Johannesburg, South Africa.</p>



<p><em>Dr. Jennifer Blanke is the
African Development Bank Group’s Vice President for Agriculture, Human and
Social Development.</em><em></em></p>


Op-Ed: The #AfricaInvestmentForum: an accelerator for Africa’s agricultural transformation

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<p>Panellists share practical insights about successfully navigating through one of the world&#8217;s most attractive markets – the African investment terrain&#8230;.</p>


Africa Investment Forum

Africa Investment Forum: EU commits R745mn to developing South African SMMEs

Africa Investment Forum: Muzi Mathema of GDDA on why Gauteng is an investment destination of choice

Africa Investment Forum: All On CEO Wiebe Boer on why he is bullish about renewables on the continent

Africa Investment Forum: Kalagadi Manganese’s Mashile-Nkosi on funding, women empowerment & gender diversity

This is how much was raised at the Africa Investment Forum

Africa Investment Forum: Eunomix CEO: How resource nationalism can be turned into a positive force in Africa

Africa Investment Forum: African Trade Insurance Agency signs MoU with European Investment Bank

Africa Investment Forum: IsDB looks to expand footprint in PPPs on the continent

Africa Investment Forum: How Africa’s richest province plans to turn waste into energy

Africa Investment Forum: “Investor feedback has been positive” – VP of AfDB, Swazi Tshabalala

Africa Investment Forum: Ibukun Adebayo: Where the LSE sees investment opportunities on the continent

Africa Investment Forum: Day two highlights

Africa Investment Forum: Crabtree Capital CEO Mark Tierney on challenges in Africa’s aviation sector

Africa Investment Forum: DBSA, East African Community sign MoU for project development & implementation

Africa Investment Forum: JICA President Mutsuya Mori on the private sector as an important partner in Africa’s growth

Op-Ed: The #AfricaInvestmentForum: an accelerator for Africa’s agricultural transformation

Africa Investment Forum: Successfully Investing in Africa: A Global Perspective

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Africa Investment Forum

Africa Investment Forum: EU commits R745mn to developing South African SMMEs

Africa Investment Forum: Muzi Mathema of GDDA on why Gauteng is an investment destination of choice

Africa Investment Forum: All On CEO Wiebe Boer on why he is bullish about renewables on the continent

Africa Investment Forum: Kalagadi Manganese’s Mashile-Nkosi on funding, women empowerment & gender diversity

This is how much was raised at the Africa Investment Forum

Africa Investment Forum: Eunomix CEO: How resource nationalism can be turned into a positive force in Africa

Africa Investment Forum: African Trade Insurance Agency signs MoU with European Investment Bank

Africa Investment Forum: IsDB looks to expand footprint in PPPs on the continent

Africa Investment Forum: How Africa’s richest province plans to turn waste into energy

Africa Investment Forum: “Investor feedback has been positive” – VP of AfDB, Swazi Tshabalala

Africa Investment Forum: Ibukun Adebayo: Where the LSE sees investment opportunities on the continent

Africa Investment Forum: Day two highlights

Africa Investment Forum: Crabtree Capital CEO Mark Tierney on challenges in Africa’s aviation sector

Africa Investment Forum: DBSA, East African Community sign MoU for project development & implementation

Africa Investment Forum: JICA President Mutsuya Mori on the private sector as an important partner in Africa’s growth

Op-Ed: The #AfricaInvestmentForum: an accelerator for Africa’s agricultural transformation

Africa Investment Forum: Successfully Investing in Africa: A Global Perspective

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