Key Takeaways

Below are some of the main takeaways from COVID-19 Africa Watch’s conversation with Chinelo Anohu, Senior Director of the Africa Investment Forum (AIF), an investment marketplace, established by the African Development Bank and its partners, that aims to close the continent’s investment gaps, through advancing projects to bankable stages, raising capital, and accelerating the financial closure of deals.

To increase investment resilience and particularly since the pandemic hit, AIF has increased its focus on harnessing domestic investments in addition to foreign investments, for more collaborative and long-lasting investment partnerships in Africa.

There is a general reluctance from international investors to deploy capital in Africa, and conversations around “de-risking” only address part of the problem. Much of the reluctance stems not from actual risk, but from the lack of adequate data for making informed decisions on investment.

Sustainability standards will be key to both ensuring the long-term value of investments and attracting ESG-conscious investors to the continent.

One of the key lessons for Africa of the current pandemic has been the extent of the continent’s dependency on imports from other regions. This has triggered a paradigm shift, and the conversation has changed from making imports more affordable and reducing import duties, to manufacturing more goods domestically. And this includes the manufacturing of vaccines.

The interview was conducted by Euphemia Gbadee Swen-Monmia, who is Deputy Director of the Financial Markets Department at the Central Bank of Liberia, and is an IFC-Milken Institute Capital Market Scholar. A transcript is available below.