{"id":319,"date":"2018-09-23T14:24:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-23T14:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thefreezoneblog.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/23\/afdb-warns-against-ignoring-africa\/"},"modified":"2018-09-23T14:24:00","modified_gmt":"2018-09-23T14:24:00","slug":"afdb-warns-against-ignoring-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thefreezonechannel.com\/old\/afdb-warns-against-ignoring-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"AfDB warns against ignoring Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-uw7Z-mqULzo\/W6eh2UyP5XI\/AAAAAAAADiI\/q5ouu2IKQZ0IV70w5HYv32_IDr8yZ51_ACLcBGAs\/s1600\/AFDB.jpg\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" data-original-height=\"470\" data-original-width=\"750\" height=\"200\" src=\"http:\/\/thefreezoneblog.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/AFDB.jpg\" width=\"320\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nAfrican Development Bank (AfDB) has warned that Africa cannot be ignored in the world given the size of its markets, growth, and huge potential across multiple sectors.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nDr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of AfDB, delivered the message at a public and private sector investor roundtable in Calgary, Canada, where he said: \u201cWe want to make sure investment in Africa can mirror a smooth plane touchdown and that your journey into Africa is not a bumpy ride.\u201d<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n\u201cLook at Africa from a different lens. For too long Africa has been viewed primarily with a development lens, rather than an investment lens,\u201d Adesina urged investors in the energy, gas, oil, and banking sectors.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nOn the last day of a four-day mission to Canada, Adesina and his delegation, including Executive Director David Stevenson representing Canada on the Bank\u2019s Board, shared Africa\u2019s tremendous opportunities spanning several sectors.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n\u201cWe do not often hear about opportunities, but Africa is leading in many ways. E-commerce and FinTech offer tremendous prospects. Today, 760 million Africans have access to mobile phones, a clear indication that the continent can truly be disruptive,\u201c Adesina said.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nBy 2050, just 32 short years from now, Africa\u2019s population will tip the scales at 2 billion, twice the combined population of China and India today.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nAccording to Adesina, by 2030, the combined consumer demand and business spending in Africa are expected to reach $6.7 trillion.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n&#8220;Our task is to unlock this huge potential,\u201d the head of Africa\u2019s leading financial institution commented.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nOn trade diversification, a top priority for Canada, Adesina recalled the signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area. Once in force, \u201cthis will be the largest trading block, with a collective GDP of $3.4 trillion. So, look to Africa for trade diversification,\u201d Adesina pleaded.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nIn an open and frank discussion with investors and private sector leaders in Calgary, the Bank fielded questions about risk perceptions, regulatory issues, and the need to ensure fair playing fields for global investors. Investors expressed an interest in exploring opportunities in Africa and acknowledged that this was an opportune time for \u2018first movers\u2019 advantages.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nAdesina acknowledged that \u201cperceptions of risk, and policy and regulatory environment issues are real challenges\u2019\u2019.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n&#8220;However, we must ensure that investors see the Bank as the partner of choice. We are constantly innovating. For example, we just closed a landmark $1 billion synthetic securitisation transaction, a first in the history of multilateral development banks. Risk is important but it should not be an excuse not to invest in Africa.\u201d<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nTo address these challenges and unlock the continent\u2019s opportunities, the African Development Bank is championing the Africa Investment Forum (AIF) &#8211; a multi-stakeholder, multi-disciplinary platform dedicated to advancing projects to bankable stages, raising capital, and accelerating the financial closure of deals, he said.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n&nbsp;Making a strong case for Canadian businesses to attend the Forum, Stella Kilonzo, Senior Director of AIF, explained the Forum, scheduled in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 7-9, 2018, \u201coffers a unique opportunity not only to source de-risked investment opportunities in Africa, but also to support the development of a vibrant institutional investor community.\u201d<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nMasai Ujiri, President of the Toronto Raptors, a National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise, described himself as a staunch believer in the African Diaspora\u2019s contribution to advance Africa\u2019s economic development. Ujiri, who is of Nigerian and Kenyan origin, has committed to attending the African Investment Forum, and becoming an ambassador, advocating for increased private sector and investor engagement in Africa.<u><\/u><u><\/u><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nThe Africa Investment Forum is scheduled for November 7-9 2018, in Johannesburg, South Africa.<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\nSource: AfDB<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;\">\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>African Development Bank (AfDB) has warned that Africa cannot be ignored in the world given the size of its markets, growth, and huge potential across multiple sectors. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of AfDB, delivered the message at a public and private sector investor roundtable in Calgary, Canada, where he said: \u201cWe want to make sure [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1371,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-africa","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>AfDB warns against ignoring Africa - The Freezone Channel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thefreezonechannel.com\/old\/afdb-warns-against-ignoring-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AfDB warns against ignoring Africa - The Freezone Channel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"African Development Bank (AfDB) has warned that Africa cannot be ignored in the world given the size of its markets, growth, and huge potential across multiple sectors. 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