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<p>With all this talk about &#8220;boosting Africa’s digital economy&#8221; during the now concluded Transform Africa Summit, CNBC Africa spoke to the Vice President of Infrastructure at the African Development Bank Pierre Guislain for his thoughts on the feasibility and costs involved.</p>


AfDB’s PierreGuislain speaks about the cost of realising a digital economy

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<p>The recent growth in the African pensions industry has created opportunities to fund the long-term investment in infrastructure and other sectors that the continent so desperately needs. For more CNBC Africa is joined by Axis Pensions Chief Executive Officer Eric Quartey.</p>


Africa’s growing pension fund: Should they be used to finance infrastructure?

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<p>According to the United Nations, lack of adequate infrastructure and access to finance are some of the challenges hampering investment in Africa and lower the level of economic transformation despite strong economic growth. In East Africa, corruption is cited as the biggest challenge. Christophe Charlier, Chairman of Renaissance Capital joins CNBC Africa to discuss this and the bank’s footprint in the region.</p>


Breaking investment roadblocks in East Africa

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<p>Regional integration holds key to reducing infrastructure costs across EAC but still faces many challenges. CNBC Africa’s Fiona Muthoni had a conversation with Ambassador Claver Gatete, Minister of Infrastructure, Rwanda, on best business models to boost sustainable private sector investment in infrastructure projects.</p>


How we can boost sustainable infrastructure investments – Rwandan Minister

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<p>The third edition of the one planet summit took place in Nairobi, engaging both the public and private players on how to curb global warming. But for this to be realized, financing is a necessity for low- carbon, resilient infrastructure and services for African Cities. CNBC Africa caught up with Hans Peter Lankes, Vice President of Economics and Private Sector Development, IFC for more on this.</p>


IFC’s Hans Peter Lankes talks on financing low-carbon infrastructure in Africa

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<p>Nigeria’s construction industry has been improving on the back of a rebound in oil markets says GlobalData. The analytics company notes that the industry’s performance has also been bolstered by the government’s focus on developing the infrastructure, energy and residential sectors. Yasmine Ghozzi, Economist at GlobalData joins CNBC Africa to discuss the outlook for Nigeria’s construction industry.</p>


Nigeria’s construction industry improves on back of a rebound in oil markets

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<p>As the countdown to Nigeria&#8217;s 2019 begins, CNBC Africa&#8217;s Dara Rhodes spoke to Yakubu Gowon, former Head of state of Nigeria about national unity and security concerns.</p>


Why we are not worried about security threats – Yakubu Gowon

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<p>A security alert from the U.S Embassy and consulate in Nigeria has noted that the Islamic State West Africa and Boko Haram have stated plans to disrupt Nigeria&#8217;s upcoming elections by attacking infrastructure and places of gathering such as markets, hotels, and malls. Dennis Amachree, Security Consultant joins CNBC Africa to discuss Nigeria’s security preparations for the 2019 elections.</p>


Nigeria’s election security preparedness ahead of 2019 elections


<p>By Chris Bishop</p>



<p>Carbon should be priced into infrastructure projects, not
only to help protect the environment but also to attract more private money towards
filling the world’s one trillion dollar-a year infrastructure gap.</p>



<p>Infrastructure dominated one of the first sessions of the
World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, that got underway, in earnest,
Tuesday. More than 60 heads of state and thousands of business and investment
experts from around the world will gather in the ski resort this week to
discuss how to fix a broken world, deal with new technology, and tackle climate
change.</p>



<p>“Carbon should be priced into infrastructure projects and
that will act as an economic trigger for private money to come in because not
only will it mean more revenue it will help us put more money into saving the
environment,” says Gregory Hodkinson, the CEO of one of the world’s biggest
infrastructure companies, Arup, that turns over more than a billion pounds a
year.</p>



<p>“The money is there. Investors sank six trillion dollars
into Untied States junk bonds last year. If investors are prepared to roll the
dice on &nbsp;junk bonds what about
infrastructure investment?”</p>



<p>One of the stumbling blocks for infrastructure investment,
in everything from roads and power to water, is securing government backing.
The panel discussion heard that 65% of world infrastructure projects are
unbankable without government guarantees and support. It can often be a
fractious relationship between investor and government officials, the session
heard. Heng Swee Keat, the Cambridge-educated finance minister of Singapore,
said the relationship between the public and private sectors could be “lumpy.”</p>



<p>“I remember a man coming to me and saying he was never going
to invest in infrastructure in your country again, I asked him ‘why’ and he
said, because the last time we invested and made money the government came back
to us and asked: ‘Why are you making so much money!’’’ says Swee Keat, who used
to be Parliamentary Private Secretary to the late father of infrastructure, on
the island, premier Lee Kuan Yew.</p>



<p>Hodkinson, who has been working in infrastructure for 40
years, said investment could no longer ignore the future, nor the environment,
otherwise next generation would suffer.</p>



<p>“Even if someone is building a car parking garage I ask what
else can they do with it because they won’t need it one day”,” says Hodkinson.</p>



<p>“We need political leadership in this fractured world…otherwise
we are going to get easy political leadership preying on people’s fears. </p>



<p>Smart cities – tailor-made for people with the help of
information about their needs gathered from the interest – was touted as one
popular answer to the infrastructure gap.</p>



<p>“We asked people if they were happy to provide personal
information to this end. Even in this world where people are frightened of
sharing their personal information, 47% said they would to get better
infrastructure,” says Michael Burke, the CEO of the NYSE-listed AECOM in the
United States that turns over more than $18 billion a year.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p>


This is how Africa can pay for its infrastructure gap

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<p>The government Rwanda and that of neighbouring Tanzania committed to fast track the implementation of the Isaka-Kigali Standard Gauge Railway in a ministerial meeting in Kigali.   CNBC Africa&#8217;s Steven Muvunyi caught up with Rwanda&#8217;s Minister of Infrastructure Claver Gatete for more.</p>


Isaka-Kigali SGR implementation underway

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<p>Pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom is investing 400 million dollars in data centres and network infrastructure in Egypt over the next three years, as part of a major partnership with Telecom Egypt. The investment was announced at the Africa 2018 forum.  While speaking about the signing, Strive Masiyiwa, Founder and Group Executive Chairman of Liquid Telecom’s parent company Econet Wireless, described Egypt as a very exciting market.</p>


Liquid Telecom to invest $400mn in Egypt

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<p>The Yemi Dipeolu Special Adviser to the Nigerian President on Economic matters says the government&#8217;s investments in infrastructure and agriculture and other key sectors of the economy will lead to improved economic growth next year. CNBC Africa’s Christy Cole caught up with him on the side-lines of the KPMG CFO Forum.</p>


How Nigeria is positioning for economic growth – Yemi Dipeolu

<p>By: Amadou Hott, Vice-President of Power, Energy, Climate Change &amp; Green Growth at the African Development Bank</p>
<p>Accessible, reliable and affordable energy is the cornerstone of transformational socio-economic development. For Africa, delivering sustainable development is dependent on meeting the continent’s energy needs in order to lift populations out of poverty, catalyze industrialization, and stimulate economic growth.</p>
<p>Despite the continent’s abundant energy resources, energy poverty is still rife in the continent with close to 600 million people lacking access to electricity. This sets nations back on meeting energy access goals, retards industry progress, and diminishes the continent’s economic growth by 2 to 4 percent every year.</p>
<p>On a positive note, energy access has improved in recent years with the number of people without access in sub-Saharan Africa falling for the first time in absolute terms, and with countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda leading the pace. Africa is at the forefront of distributed energy systems that can increase energy access in rural areas faster, more cheaply, and more widely than conventional grid extension, driven by innovative business models and rapidly decreasing technology costs. At the same time, renewables are on the rise across the continent with significant renewable generation capacities added in countries such as Egypt, Morocco and South Africa.</p>
<p>Renewable energy investments are also on the rise across the continent from Senegal, to Kenya, and Zambia. While this progress is encouraging, the pace of energy access falls far short of meeting the universal energy access target by 2030.</p>
<p>Closing the gap on Africa’s energy challenges presents major opportunities for investors keen on engaging with the continent, especially on helping Africa meet the shortfall in the estimated $90 billion required to achieve universal energy access by 2030.</p>
<p>Clearly, these financing needs are of such magnitude that no single institution is capable of meeting them in isolation. This is why development finance institutions need a pragmatic shift in how they do business and leverage scarce public resources in order to mobilize private sector financing at scale, “from billions to trillions”.</p>
<p>The African Development Bank is leading by example. For instance, the Bank launched the Facility for Energy Inclusion to close funding gaps in the small-scale energy infrastructure sector, and catalyze last-mile energy access. Through a mix of commercial and concessional instruments, the facility provides low cost of capital, and mitigates key credit and currency risks. Additionally, the recently approved the Room2Run transaction allows the Bank to effectively transfer the credit risks of selected loan portfolios to investors, which lowers the total risk consumption of the Bank.</p>
<p>This initiative will enable the Bank to recycle capital efficiently in order to boost lending capacity and enhance private sector investments. The transaction has already attracted major support from partners like the European Commission who will provide a $100 million guarantee to be channeled into renewable energy projects in Africa. Ultimately, this will free up around $700 million, which can be re-allocated to new projects.</p>
<p>Multiple barriers hinder investments and private sector participation which could potentially fast-track energy access. These include lack of an enabling policy environment for investors, and other systemic bottlenecks that slow down transactions and escalate project costs. Transforming the energy landscape calls for a multi-faceted approach to unlock private sector capital by resolving these barriers in order to create the ideal conditions for investments in the continent.</p>
<p>The African Development Bank in close collaboration with other development partners is perched on the apex of creating a vibrant marketplace that will deliver the energy transformation necessary to move Africa forward. The Bank is dedicated to eliminating and minimizing barriers for investors, primarily through financial instruments to de-risk transactions, disseminating knowledge and market data, and facilitating peer-to peer learning and networking. Private sector engagement is on the rise, buoyed by various partnerships such as the New Deal on Energy for Africa and the US-led Power Africa Initiative.</p>
<p>To sustain this momentum, the bank convened the inaugural Africa Energy Market Place (AEMP) in Abidjan in July 2018. The AEMP is a platform for public private dialogue, and is set up to address barriers to mobilizing and scaling-up private investment into the energy sector. Effectively, AEMP reviews and prioritizes transformative energy transactions, and accelerates reforms in order to attract private investments and create a pipeline of bankable projects. Five countries participated in the inaugural edition: Côte d&#8217;Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Zambia.</p>
<p>The conversations that began at the AEMP are set to continue in November’s Africa Investment Forum (AIF) in South Africa. The forum convenes project sponsors, borrowers, lenders and investors with a shared interest in closing Africa’s infrastructure gap which is estimated to be anywhere between $130–$170 billion per year.</p>
<p>By convening,and facilitating mutually beneficial dialogue amongst stakeholders who can dramatically impact Africa’s energy landscape, the Bank is creating the requisite foundation for accelerated private sector investments in Africa’s energy sector to achieve universal energy access.</p>
<p>Indisputably, this will put the continent steadily on the path to socio-economic growth, and sustainable development.</p>


OpEd: Why financing Africa’s energy infrastructure is a major opportunity for investors

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<p>The 2019 World Bank Doing Business index report has positioned Rwanda as the 29th easiest place to do business in the world. CNBC Africa caught up with Claver Gatete, Minister of Infrastructure for more on this.</p>


Rwanda improves its ‘ease of doing business’ ranking

<p>LUANDA (Reuters) &#8211; Angola has secured $2 billion in Chinese financing from the China Development Bank for infrastructure projects on President João Lourenço’s first visit to Beijing, Angola’s state newspaper Jornal de Angola reported on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Details of the terms of the financing were not released. The finance ministry did not immediately respond to a request to confirm the information.</p>
<p>China is increasingly flexing its financial muscle in Africa, funding massive infrastructure projects across the continent.</p>
<p>Angola, Africa’s second largest oil producer, is in the process of trying to diversify its economy since a fall in the price of crude in 2014 plunged it into recession. Inflation is running at more than 20 percent per year and at least one in five of workers are jobless.</p>
<p>Lourenço, who took power a year ago after the 38-year rule of Jose Eduardo dos Santos, has promised to oversee an “economic miracle” by opening up the country to foreign investment and prioritising sectors such as agriculture and tourism. So far growth has remained sluggish.</p>
<p>Investors are increasingly concerned by Angola’s growing debt burden, which the government said earlier this year will rise to $77.3 billion, or 70.8 percent of GDP, by the end of 2018. Of that, around $21.5 billion was already owed to China before Lourenço’s visit there.</p>
<p>Reporting by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Ed Stoddard and Peter Graff</p>


What you need to know about Angola securing a $2 billion infrastructure financing from China

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<p>Damola Akindolire, Executive Director, Real Estate &#038; Infrastructure at Alpha Mead Groups joins CNBC Africa to discuss the likely impact of the 2019 elections on property prices in the country.</p>


Nigeria 2019 elections: Impact on property prices

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<p>With the growing demand for infrastructure across Eastern Africa, big real estate projects sector continues to see a boom. However, not without some challenges that’s according Mark Dunford, Head of JLL East Africa. He joins CNBC Africa for more on the side-lines of the Development Finance Forum held in Rwanda.</p>


infrastructure

AfDB’s PierreGuislain speaks about the cost of realising a digital economy

Africa’s growing pension fund: Should they be used to finance infrastructure?

Breaking investment roadblocks in East Africa

How we can boost sustainable infrastructure investments – Rwandan Minister

IFC’s Hans Peter Lankes talks on financing low-carbon infrastructure in Africa

Nigeria’s construction industry improves on back of a rebound in oil markets

Why we are not worried about security threats – Yakubu Gowon

Nigeria’s election security preparedness ahead of 2019 elections

This is how Africa can pay for its infrastructure gap

Isaka-Kigali SGR implementation underway

Liquid Telecom to invest $400mn in Egypt

How Nigeria is positioning for economic growth – Yemi Dipeolu

OpEd: Why financing Africa’s energy infrastructure is a major opportunity for investors

Rwanda improves its ‘ease of doing business’ ranking

What you need to know about Angola securing a $2 billion infrastructure financing from China

Nigeria 2019 elections: Impact on property prices

Opportunities and challenges facing East Africa’s real estate sector

News Tips

Advertise With Us

infrastructure

AfDB’s PierreGuislain speaks about the cost of realising a digital economy

Africa’s growing pension fund: Should they be used to finance infrastructure?

Breaking investment roadblocks in East Africa

How we can boost sustainable infrastructure investments – Rwandan Minister

IFC’s Hans Peter Lankes talks on financing low-carbon infrastructure in Africa

Nigeria’s construction industry improves on back of a rebound in oil markets

Why we are not worried about security threats – Yakubu Gowon

Nigeria’s election security preparedness ahead of 2019 elections

This is how Africa can pay for its infrastructure gap

Isaka-Kigali SGR implementation underway

Liquid Telecom to invest $400mn in Egypt

How Nigeria is positioning for economic growth – Yemi Dipeolu

OpEd: Why financing Africa’s energy infrastructure is a major opportunity for investors

Rwanda improves its ‘ease of doing business’ ranking

What you need to know about Angola securing a $2 billion infrastructure financing from China

Nigeria 2019 elections: Impact on property prices

Opportunities and challenges facing East Africa’s real estate sector

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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