Africa investor addresses infrastructure investment risk at the African Development Bank Annual Meetings
Kigali, Rwanda, 21 May 2014: Africa investor (Ai), a leading international investment and communications group, yesterday moderated a panel co-chaired by Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), and Makhtar Diop, Vice President for Africa at the World Bank, at the AfDB Annual Meetings, which explored solutions to counter the impact of perceived riskiness of investing in Africa’s infrastructure.
Hubert Danso, CEO and Vice Chairman of Africa investor, moderated the panel. Other panellists included Uche Orji, CEO of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, Helen Tarnoy, Founder and Managing Director of Aldwych International, and Mahesh Kotecha, President and Founder of Structured Credit International Corp.
Speaking on the panel, Danso urged the AfDB and the World Bank to work with regulators to put in place incentives that make it easier for African pension and sovereign wealth funds to invest in domestic and regional infrastructure investment projects, as a pre-cursor for de-risking and crowding in global institutional capital that invests in infrastructure as an investable asset class.
Panellists emphasised the need to build a better brand for bankable African infrastructure projects and to work to establish African infrastructure investment as an investable asset class – rather than as a development product.
Africa investor has also announced its first African Infrastructure Investment Index (Ai Investable Infrastructure Index) as a means for pension and sovereign funds to increase their exposure to infrastructure investment in Africa.
The panel showcased a number of innovative products and structures to fast track and de-risk infrastructure investments in Africa, using African capital markets, the Africa investor Infrastructure Investment Index Fund, bond issues and insurance, and captive vehicle structures.
Watch the session on:
http://www.afdb.org/en/annual-meetings-2014/programme/reducing-perceived-riskiness-of-investing-in-africa%E2%80%99s-infrastructure/
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Note to Editors
For more information, contact Catherine Wright on +27 11 783 4043 or cwright@africainvestor.com.
About Africa investor – www.africainvestor.com
Africa investor is a specialist investment and communications firm advising governments, international organisations and businesses on communication strategies for capital market and foreign direct investments in Africa. Africa investor publishes Africa investor, the leading international newsstand magazine for Africa’s investment decision makers; maintains the Africa investor 40 Investors’ Index, hosts the Ai Index Series Summit & Awards and the Africa investor Infrastructure Projects Summit & Awards, among other events.
