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Managing Director of Africa Finance Corporation, AFC, Mr. Andrew Alli, says the organisation has invested approximately $4bn in projects across Africa.
Alli disclosed this in Abuja, at a panel discussion on the 10 years of AFC operations at the Infrastructure Summit.
According to him, one of the objectives of the summit, was to develop new solutions to increase deal flow and fast track commercial projects in Africa.
He observed that, by bringing financiers and investors alongside project developers and fund managers, AFC wanted to ensure that more capital, both African and international, could be deployed towards addressing Africa’s pressing infrastructure needs.
A recent UN report said that of the total $2tn raised globally for infrastructure projects, only $59bn was received in Africa, representing three percent.
Meanwhile, AFC and Boston Consulting Group, BCG, have said that Nigeria and other sub-Saharan Africa require a combination of solid legal frameworks, increased private-sector involvement and better fiscal incentives to plug annual infrastructure-funding gap of about $100 billion. The report noted that governments in the region have insufficient strategic foresight, political will and policy certainty and numbers of adequately skilled people to improve delivery.
The report added that financial systems need upgrading to be sound enough for projects, and nations must develop local capital and debt markets that provide lower financing costs.
“Implementing projects takes twice as long as in other regions. Private investors often must act as project developers, adding 10 percent to 15 percent to the project costs and lengthening the project life cycle. The region’s nations lose as much as 2.1 percent of gross domestic product annually to inadequate infrastructure,” the organisations said.
Source: Vanguard
