The upcoming CEO Africa Roundtable annual conference will dedicate a session on seeking solutions to boost domestic private financing to Africa’s massive infrastructure needs.
This comes after research show that less than 10 percent of infrastructure investments in Africa are from private sources, such as banks and private equity.
The conference will take place in Victoria Falls on the 11th to the 14th of this month.
Despite colossal needs of between $100 billion and $170 billion per year, and significant local resource availability (approximately $2 trillion of local currency equivalent financing available in African pension funds, life insurance and sovereign funds), local sources of private capital are struggling to contribute.
Experts point to factors such as insufficient Return on investment (ROI), risk allocation, regulations and capacity to ensure long-term loans, as major obstacles.
While power and telecoms projects have succeeded in attracting investors in recent years, local investors have not been forthcoming in respect to other sector.
Key discussions will focus on how to mobilize the vast local currency resources on the continent as well as understanding what international investors are seeking for in local equity and financing partners.
Speakers to deliberate on these issues will include Fossil Mines director Obey Chimuka, Minister of Transport & Infrastructural Development Felix Mhona, Kelibone Masiyane – Managing Director at Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) Zimbabwe and Andre Zietsman – CEO, Bitumen.
Zimbabwe has witnessed an infrastructure development boom in the last five years which was government-driven but private investment has been very minimum.
