Africa Investment Forum’s Founding Partners Secures $1 Billion in Memoranda of Understanding at US-Africa Leaders’ Summit | African Development Bank

Africa Investment Forum (AIF) received significant support in the US last week to advance key infrastructure projects for the continent. Three founders of the Africa Investment Forum signed memoranda of understanding worth more than $1 billion with the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to expand U.S. trade and investment in Africa.

Exim President and Chairman Reta Jo Lewis signed the agreement with the heads of the African Export-Import Bank, Africa Finance Corporation and Africa50 at the three-day US-Africa Leaders Forum convened by the Biden administration on December 13, 2022. Africa’s involvement came amid global fragility and as Africa faces an infrastructure funding gap estimated at more than $100 billion a year.

Chairman Lewis led an EXIM delegation to the 2022 Africa Investment Forum market days in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, last November, where the relationship with the three institutions was consolidated.

“The partnerships we are establishing today are very much a demonstration of EXIM’s commitment to resetting and renewing our outreach efforts with Africa,” Lewis said in his remarks at the signing in Washington, DC.

She said that while cooperation with Africa is one of EXIM’s mandates, it is also a priority of the Biden-Harris administration, “one we are committed to fulfilling in support of the advancement of US exports.”

At the event, Senior Director of the African Development Bank Group, Chinelo Anohu, who heads the Africa Investment Forum, built on the momentum of the Africa Investment Forum Market Days in 2022 – which raised $31 billion in investment interest – and met with business leaders to explore further investment opportunities. to close Africa’s infrastructure gap.

She spoke of the importance of strengthening partnerships between the Africa Investment Forum, US government agencies and the US private sector. The forum brought together American and African business and civil society leaders, the media, and members of the Washington, DC diaspora

Earlier this week, EXIM named Anohu one of 15 global female leaders of its Council for Advancing Women in Business, launched at its 2022 annual conference. The Council will play a key role in supporting EXIM’s gender equality goals.

The African Development Bank also participated in the celebration of 30 years since the establishment of the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). The event brought together Africa’s leading financial institutions to discuss the future of infrastructure finance on the continent. At this meeting, Ms. Anohu and USTDA Director Enoh Ebong highlighted the partnership between the Africa Investment Forum and the USTDA – which they say has already delivered solid results, particularly in the area of ​​female-led investment.

Several other events took place on the sidelines of the summit between US and African leaders to advance discussions on Africa’s efforts to drive climate action, support creative industries and promote innovative solutions to the continent’s infrastructure deficit.

These include an opening dinner hosted by the Atlantic Council, where ten heads of state in dialogue with American and African business leaders. There was also a roundtable discussion with the new global news outlet Semaphorewith the Africa Export-Import Bank and Atlantic Council on financing African creatives.

Ms. Anohu also attended a program by the Africa Finance Corporation and the Bank of America on innovative financing for climate change.

The summit concluded with a pledge from US President Biden for $55 billion in new funding over the next three years to address some of Africa’s biggest challenges, including health, climate, digitization and trade and investment. The Africa Investment Forum and its founding partners expect to be key implementing partners working with the US government and US Congress in implementing the new commitments.

The Africa Investment Forum is Africa’s infrastructure investment marketplace championed by the African Development Bank and seven other founding partners to accelerate the closing of the continent’s investment gaps. It operates as a multi-stakeholder, multidisciplinary platform dedicated to moving projects to bankable stages, raising capital and accelerating the financial close of deals. It also includes a digital platform for investors and project sponsors to profile their investment interests and deals.

Africa Investment Forum Senior Director Chinelo Anohu (left), EXIM Chairman Reta Jo Lewis and Africa Finance Corporation President Samaila Zubairu at the US Africa Business Forum