G7 devt finance institutions, others to invest $80bn into African businesses
The G7 Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) have announced a commitment to invest $80 billion dollars in Africa’s private sector, over the next five years, to support sustainable economic recovery and growth in the continent.
A statement on Monday, from the African Development Bank (AfDB), said the G7 DFIs made the announcement along with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the AfDB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the European Investment Bank.
It is the first time the G7 DFIs have come together to make a collective partnership commitment to the African continent, according to the statement.
Each DFI has its own investment criteria which are aligned to an assessment of need, to achieve development impact across a range of sectors.
The G7 DFI group consists of CDC, Proparco (France), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Bank for International Cooperation, DFC (US), FinDev Canada, DEG (Germany) and CDP (Italy).
The UK Minister for Africa, James Duddridge, said the UK was proud to back this commitment by world leaders at the G7 Summit.
“This investment will create jobs, boost economic growth, help tackle climate change and fight poverty. It comes at a crucial time as the continent rebuilds its economies, severely impacted by COVID-19,” Duddridge said.
Also, Nick O’Donohoe, the Chief Executive Officer, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Group, said the patient, high quality capital DFIs provided was urgently needed if African economies were to rebuild quickly from the impact of the pandemic.
“CDC is committed to building long term investment partnerships in Africa that fuel sustainable private sector growth in support of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,” O’Donohoe said.
President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Werner Hoyer said the EIB welcomed G7 leadership to enhance support for high-impact investment across Africa during and after the pandemic.
“Last year, the EU Bank’s engagement in Africa, as part of Team Europe, represented the largest ever support for climate action and investment in fragile states in 55 years of EIB operations on the continent.
“We stand ready to cooperate further with African and multilateral partners to tackle both COVID-19 and accelerate the green transition in Africa,” Hoyer said.
Also, Makhtar Diop, IFC’s Managing Director, said ensuring an inclusive and sustainable recovery for people, businesses and economies across Africa, in coordination with IFC’s development partners, was at the core of the corporation’s development mandate.
“We know that the private sector will play a major role in financing Africa’s future by creating millions of jobs that are essential to ensuring sustained economic growth and poverty reduction.
“We, therefore, welcome this important partnership and are proud to provide financing and to work with partners to help create the right conditions to bring more private investment to Africa,” Diop said.
Similarly, David Marchick, Chief Operating Officer of U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) said investing more in Africa, under President Biden’s leadership, was a top priority for DFC in fulfilling its development mandate.
“DFC is proud to be doubling down on our commitment to Africa, alongside our G7 and multilateral partners .
“We will continue to prioritise investments in vaccine manufacturing, COVID-19 response, climate mitigation and adaptation, and gender equity on the African continent,” Marchick said.
