• Targets $500m in signed deals across six strategic sectors
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
About $4 billion in African investment opportunities will be presented to global institutional investors at the Africa Business Investment Summit scheduled for August 27 and 28 in Washington, DC, as businesses and governments seek to attract fresh capital beyond traditional developed markets.
The two day summit, organised by the Millennium Excellence Foundation, will hold at MGM National Harbor and is targeting $500 million in signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and Letters of Intent across six strategic sectors, a statement by the organisers said yesterday.
The event is expected to bring together institutional investors, private equity and private credit firms, development finance institutions, multilateral organisations, blended finance institutions, sovereign representatives, policymakers, family offices and business executives.
The summit will open with a Royal Keynote by the Asantehene and its patron, His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the statement explained.
High level participants expected at the event include Ghana’s Vice President, Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang; Minister of Finance, Cassiel Ato Baah Forson; Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Johnson Pandit Asiama; Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Victor Emmanuel Smith; and Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo Olu.
Private sector participants confirmed for the summit include Co Founder of Sahara Group, Tonye Cole; Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola; actor, diaspora advocate and Co-founder of Full Circle Africa, Boris Kodjoe.
Also expected are: Former President of the Export Import Bank of the United States, Reta Jo Lewis; Co-founder and Chairman of Africa Capital, Thomas Svanikier; Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Next Narrative Africa Fund, Akunna Cook; and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Sand Technologies, Fred Swaniker.
President of the Millennium Excellence Foundation, Nana Agyeman Prempeh, said changing market fundamentals were making African investment opportunities increasingly attractive to global investors.
“The fundamentals have changed,” Prempeh said, noting that stronger institutions, blended finance and policy reforms had helped to de risk projects and improve their risk adjusted returns.
He said the market was only beginning to recognise the shift in Africa’s investment landscape.
The summit will focus on infrastructure, mining, natural resources, agriculture, manufacturing, technology, energy, critical minerals, fintech, health technology and the creative economy.
The first day, themed: “Unlocking Africa’s Century: A Diaspora Mandate”, will bring together senior government officials and policymakers to discuss the political and institutional framework required to unlock investment.
Discussions will include ways of moving diaspora capital beyond remittances, Africa’s position in the global critical minerals supply chain and the intersection between energy infrastructure and the United States Africa partnership.
The second day, themed: “From Vision to Commitment: Diaspora Capital Meets African Opportunity”, will focus on deal execution, with bilateral investment meetings organised through sector specific deal rooms.
The organisers said the meetings would target signed MoUs and Letters of Intent, with a closing signing ceremony to be presided over by Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
Several projects to be presented at the summit are expected to benefit from government investment incentives aimed at improving their economics, alongside commercial return structures designed to meet institutional investment thresholds.
The Africa Business Investment Summit is the commercial centrepiece of Millennium Excellence Week, a broader programme aimed at recognising leadership while strengthening commercial and investment ties between Africa and the global investment community.
The organisers said registration would close on Friday, August 21, with the summit expected to provide a platform for African businesses and governments to engage directly with global capital providers on investment opportunities across the continent.