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The convener of London Africa Summit, Frederick Apeji, has commended the President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, for announcing a new initiative tagged, Africa Investment Forum (AIF) in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Apeji made this commendation in an Online Media Briefing (OMB) with country representatives of the summit in DRC, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The annual London Africa Summit is an international business event that seeks to promote the rapid industrialisation and modernisation of the sub-national entities across Sub-Saharan Africa. The inaugural edition is slated for London, UK, August 6-7, 2018.Apeji said the much awaited transformation of the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa must not be left only to the national governments; but a significant role must be played by the hundreds of provincial governments that make up these countries.
In his words: “We must take a cue from the 50 American states, and begin to open up a wider space for Africa’s provincial governments to unleash their energy to drive continental economic growth”.
Meanwhile the AfDB Boss, Akinwumi Adesina, was in Johannesburg earlier this month to announce South Africa as the host country of the inaugural Africa Investment Forum (AIF), slated for November 7-9, 2018.
At the occasion, Dr. Adesina said: “AfDB’s African Economic Outlook 2018 indicates that the continent’s infrastructure requirements amount to US $130-170 billion a year.To address these challenges, the African Development Bank is championing the Africa Investment Forum as a platform to actively engage the private sector and to facilitate projects that have the capacity to transform the continent. AIF is designed to enhance private-sector cooperation and drive investment in sectors of strategic interest within Africa”.
Adesina said:“This is not a talk shop. There will be no political speeches. The AIF provides an open platform to organise efforts among multilateral institutions, governments and private sector to improve a pipeline of projects capable of transforming the continent.”
“The AIF will harmonise processes among the Bank and its partners, reduce intermediation costs, improve quality of project information and documentation, and increase action-oriented engagements between African governments and the private sector,” he added.
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