A group of top African investors made a stop in Casablanca, Morocco, on Tuesday, November 12 to mobilise Moroccan investors and business leaders a few weeks ahead of the Africa Investment Forum’s Market Days event.

The Africa Investment Forum, an initiative of the African Development Bank Group and eight other founding partners, is a platform that advances projects to bankability, raises capital, and accelerates transactions to financial close.

Organised by Africa50 (http://apo-opa.co/3O8LVij), a pan-African infrastructure investor and asset manager, and the African Development Bank Group, the roadshow provided a preview of Market Days  to local investors, and  enjoined  them to actively participate in the transformation of the continent through sustainable investments.

Market Days is a three-day annual event that brings together project sponsors, financiers, governments and other key stakeholders to advance deals toward close. The 2024 Market Days will be held from December 4-6 in Rabat, Morocco’s capital.

Morocco: a Regional Hub for Investment in Africa

In his opening remarks, Abdelkrim Achir, Deputy Director of the Treasury and External Finance at Morocco's Ministry of the Economy and Finance, said, “the organization of the Africa Investment Forum in Morocco for the second year running is recognition of the significant efforts made to promote investment under the impetus of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God assist him, and of the Kingdom's positioning as a regional hub for investment and growth.”

Ms. Yacine Fal, Special Representative of the President of the African Development Bank Group for the Africa Investment Forum was present. She said, "this pre-forum event in Casablanca reinforces our commitment to connecting African projects with capital. By engaging local investors upfront, we are laying the foundations for transformative partnerships that will fuel Africa's long-term development goals. The Africa Investment Forum continues to advance critical projects towards bankable stages, channeling capital towards sectors aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, the African Development Bank's High 5s, and the African Union's Agenda 2063."

Ms. Zurina Saban, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Africa50 also attended the event. She said, "The more than$100 billion infrastructure financing gap on the continent can only be closed through a concerted effort from both domestic and international investors, and the Market Days platform is strategic for bringing together the right people and connecting  them to high-impact projects to accelerate the continent’s growth.  As Africa50 works alongside our AIF partners, we are committed to leveraging the collective power of local knowledge, extended networks, and our project development and project finance expertise to shape Africa's future - creating lasting impact for generations to come."

Innovations for Scaling Up Investments

The 2024 Market Days, under the theme: "Leveraging Innovative Partnerships for Scale," will bring together more than 2,000 participants from over 50 countries. The event will focus on advancing high-potential African projects towards financial close through strategic partnerships that drive Africa's economic transformation.

Among the highlights of the 2024 edition of the Africa Investment Forum the recent automation of its project and investment tracking mechanism. This is expected to optimise the investment process, enhance project supervision, and strengthen the efficiency of connections between capital and projects on the continent.

The founding partners of the African Investment Forum are the African Development Bank, Africa50, Africa Finance Corporation, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), which joined earlier in 2024.