Stakeholders chart path for Africa’s sustainable development

Investors, business leaders and policymakers driving innovation through private investment gathered at Dakar, Senegal, to explore evolving themes, trends and market dynamics shaping Africa’s investment landscape.

At African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s (AVCA) 18th yearly conference, the stakeholders examined the pace and scale at which the continent moves from resilience to resurgence.

The conference, a hybrid event, drew more than 500 private equity and venture capital practitioners from all over the world. Minister of Economy, Planning and International Cooperation of Senegal, Amadou Hott, unveiled the event with a keynote address justifying the summit theme ‘Resurgence, Resilience and Results: Private Capital in Africa at a Crossroads’.

The Minister commended AVCA for encouraging investments and emphasised the increasing role of the private sector in mobilising capital in financing resilience and infrastructure projects such as ports and toll roads.

He said: “Our country is leading a robust recovery plan post-pandemic, prioritising economic resilience programmes across a broad range of promising sectors, such as food and agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and construction – as we fulfil ambitions to relaunch the tourism sector and secure long-term, sustainable, and inclusive growth.”

Reflecting on the Association’s first global gathering since 2019, Chief Executive Officer, AVCA, Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, said: “We have had to individually and collectively reconsider how we work; how we connect and how we create impact. Africa continues to break new grounds in technology, financials, healthcare, and infrastructure, while investors remain positive about the promise of our wonderful continent.”