Nigeria attracts $7.6bn investment interests at Africa’s forum
By Seun Ibiyemi
Nigeria has attracted $7.6 billion in investment interests at the Africa Investment Forum 2024, held in Rabat, Morocco, from 4 to 6 December 2024.
The announcement was made by Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account over the weekend.
Adesina expressed optimism about the potential impact of the investment, highlighting the participation of several Nigerian state governors at the forum. He said, “I am delighted that the Africa Investment Forum 2024 mobilised $7.6bn of investment interest for Nigeria. It was great to have several State Governors: Lagos, Kaduna, Katsina, Kwara, Plateau, and (later) Ogun. We will keep working to support and boost investments to Nigeria.”
The Africa Investment Forum, established by the African Development Bank and its partners, serves as a platform to accelerate investments into projects across the continent.
Last year’s event attracted over 2,300 participants, including global investors, African business leaders, and government officials. The forum facilitated $29.2 billion in total investment interests for various projects in Africa, spanning the energy, infrastructure, agriculture, and technology sectors.
The $7.6 billion investment interest for Nigeria is seen as a strong vote of confidence in the country’s economic potential and the ongoing reforms aimed at attracting foreign capital.
Earlier, the African Development Bank Group announced in a statement that it had facilitated $2.2 billion in capital mobilisation for the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Nigeria Phase II project during the Africa Investment Forum.
In the statement, Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, Senior Special Adviser to the AfDB President, said, “The Nigeria SAPZ Phase II presidential boardroom has raised $2.2bn in investment interest from global investors. This is far more than we have raised for SAPZs across all 12 African countries covered by the programme. SAPZ is an idea whose time has come. This is the time to industrialise Africa!”
The statement also noted that at a presidential boardroom meeting on 4 December 2024, governors from Nigerian states, representatives of multilateral development organisations, members of the diplomatic corps, and private sector investors pledged their support for scaling up financing to Nigeria’s Federal and State Governments for the SAPZ initiative.
The initiative, described as ambitious, aims to transform Nigeria’s agricultural sector by establishing agro-industrial hubs. Building on the achievements of its first phase, the programme seeks to enhance productivity, improve food security, raise living standards, and create jobs across the country.
