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Event

Getting to the crux of financing infrastructure in Africa

Bruegel, CGD, and JICA gathered experts to tackle obstacles to financing Africa's infrastructure, aiming to close a USD15 trillion gap by 2040

Speakers

Amine Idriss Adoum

Director, Infrastructure and Energy, Industrialisation, Trade and Regional Integration, African Union Development Agency-NEPAD

Naoki Ando

Senior Vice President, Japan International Cooperation Agency

Fola Fagbule

Deputy Director & Head, Financial Advisory, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)

Mikaela Gavas

Co-Director Development Cooperation in Europe and Senior Policy Fellow, CGD, Center for Global Development

Agenda

Check-in & lunch

12:30-13:00

Agenda

Welcome words

13:00-13:10
  • Mikaela Gavas, Co-Director Development Cooperation in Europe and Senior Policy Fellow, CGD, Center for Global Development
  • Niclas Poitiers, Bruegel Research fellow

Agenda

Panel discussion

13:10-13:55
  • Chair: Mikaela Gavas, Co-Director Development Cooperation in Europe and Senior Policy Fellow, CGD, Center for Global Development
  • Amine Idriss Adoum, Director, Infrastructure and Energy, Industrialisation, Trade and Regional Integration, African Union Development Agency-NEPAD
  • Naoki Ando, Senior Vice President, Japan International Cooperation Agency
  • Fola Fagbule, Deputy Director & Head, Financial Advisory, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)
  • Antti Karhunen, Director, INTPA, European Commission

Agenda

Q&A

13:55-14:30

Bruegel, together with The Center for Global Development (CGD) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) convened policymakers, investors and experts to discuss concrete ways to overcome the obstacles to financing infrastructure in Africa. With a financing gap expected to reach USD15 trillion by 2040, we urgently need some creative thinking and practical solutions to bridge the gap. Both the G7 and the EU are ramping up the implementation of the Global Gateway (GG) and the Partnership for Global Infrastructure (PGII) to provide investments to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in sectors such as energy, transport, digital and health. Japan, under its 2023 G7 presidency, took a leading role in coordinating donor efforts to attract private sector capital for infrastructure investment.

Yet so many challenges persist, preventing these initiatives from reaching their full potential. At our last event on financing infrastructure in Africa, in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, CGD highlighted that the dearth of bankable projects, the weak mobilization of private investors and the limited financial resources from domestic public sectors are all hindering investment in Africa’s infrastructure. The event aimed to get to the crux of the matter: what needs to happen to overcome the obstacles and unlock financing for Africa’s sustainable infrastructure development.