Investment deals and international partnerships set the pace for Africa’s continued economic growth and green energy transition as global leaders convened in Morocco.
The Africa Investment Forum (AIF) 2024 Market Days attracted $29.2 billion in new investor interest, along with strategic energy and technology partnerships with countries including Japan.
Around 2,300 business, finance, and government leaders from 83 countries gathered in Rabat, Morocco in December to explore untapped potential on the continent, with the goal of advancing projects in critical sectors towards financial close.
“Across 41 investment boardrooms, investors and project developers gathered to review, discuss, and engage in 37 investment projects,” said Akinwumi A Adesina, President of the African Development Bank and Chairman of the Africa Investment Forum. “The projects varied from transport to power, energy, agribusiness, industry, mining, pharmaceuticals, private equity, tourism, urban infrastructure, water management, and water and sanitation.”
Led by the African Development Bank Group and eight other founding partners, the AIF’s mission is to close the continent’s investment gap by accelerating the development of projects and offering a curated platform for investors to connect, engage, and finalize deals. The AIF, which has garnered over $150 billion worth of financing since its inception in 2018, aims to transform the region into an investment powerhouse by addressing infrastructure deficits, boosting industrialization, and promoting job creation.
Primed for transformation
Africa is at a critical juncture. It is the second-fastest growing region globally, with annual economic growth expected to increase to 4.3% in 2025, up from 3.7% in 2024. It is also home to a burgeoning young workforce, with a working-age population (between 15 and 64 years old) of 849 million in 2024, which is expected to rise to 1.56 billion by 2050, along with an estimated 477 million 15 to 35-year-olds by 2030.
But, at the same time, the continent faces both global and regional challenges, including food insecurity, debt crisis, political instability, and the accelerating climate crisis.
To tackle these challenges head on, the African Development Bank has outlined a Ten-Year Strategy for 2024 to 2033 that is set to harness the investments secured at the AIF and similar private-sector focused platforms. The strategy aims to build sustainable and resilient growth that leverages Africa’s young workforce, growing urban markets, wealth of natural resources, and vast clean energy potential.
Pivotal to the strategy is balancing both economic prosperity with environmental concerns, making the advancement of green energy solutions and sustainable innovation a critical part of Africa’s transformation.
Global partnerships for sustainable growth
A key milestone from Market Days 2024 was the strengthening of ties with international partners like Japan. The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) managed by the African Development Bank announced that the Asian country had become its 11th contributor. SEFA provides catalytic finance to unlock private sector investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
“SEFA is uniquely positioned to address this challenge and unlock the transformative potential of clean energy for millions of Africans,” added Kariuki, highlighting Mission 300, a joint African Development Bank and World Bank initiative aimed at providing access to electricity for 300 million people by 2030.
The 2024 Market Days also featured presentations from Japanese technology companies about innovative solutions being rolled out across the continent. These included satellite company Space Shift, which demonstrated its AI-powered system for continuous crop growth monitoring in Nigeria. Designed to improve agricultural decision-making for farmers, the system combines optical and radar satellite data to generate harvest timing predictions and record historical farming activity.
Green Carbon introduced its innovative approaches to generating carbon credits in agriculture. Its projects, which include the use of the carbon-rich material biochar to improve soil structure and alternate wetting and drying in rice fields, can reduce methane emissions by 30% to 50% and generate valuable carbon credits for farmers.
Japanese venture capital firm Uncovered Fund is supporting start-ups in Africa, including climate technology companies and electric vehicle battery service providers, with financing and technologies. And Hitachi Energy is contributing to the electrification of Africa by implementing infrastructure that delivers reliable renewable energy to cities and rural areas.
A forum for collaboration
Home to vast renewable energy resources like solar and wind, mineral reserves including lithium and cobalt—critical for the green energy transition—and undeveloped markets in agriculture and technology, Africa is brimming with untapped potential. Paired with its growing workforce and economic resilience, the continent is ripe with opportunities for investment and poised to make significant contributions to global solutions in the coming years.
“The Moroccan proverb says ‘one hand alone cannot clap.’ We need each other to succeed,” said Adesina in his closing speech at the 2024 Market Days. “The waves of the Africa Investment Forum are cascading investment ripples from Africa to all parts of the world.”
