Nigeria has secured $7.6bn in investment interests at the Africa Investment Forum 2024, which took place in Rabat, Morocco, from December 4 to 6, 2024.
The announcement was made by the President of the African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Saturday.
Dr Adesina expressed optimism about the potential impact of the investment interests, highlighting the presence of several Nigerian state governors at the forum
“I am delighted the Africa Investment Forum 2024 mobilised $7.6bn of investment interest for Nigeria. It was great to have several state governors: Lagos, Kaduna, Kastina, Kwara and Plateau, and (later) Ogun. We will keep working to support and boost investments to Nigeria,” his post read.
The Africa Investment Forum, established by the African Development Bank and its partners, is a platform that seeks to fast-track 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 $29.2bn in total investment interests for various projects across Africa, ranging from energy and infrastructure to agriculture and technology.
The $7.6bn investment interest for Nigeria signals a strong vote of confidence in the country’s economic potential and the reforms being implemented to attract foreign capital.
Earlier, the African Development Bank Group said in a statement in December that it facilitated $2.2bn in capital mobilisation for its Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones Nigeria Phase II project during the Africa Investment Forum.
In the statement, Senior Special Adviser to the African Development Bank’s President Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka was quoted as saying, “The Nigeria SAPZ phase 2 presidential boardroom has raised $2.2bn in investment interest from global investors.
“This is far more than we have raised for SAPZs across all the 12 African countries covered by the programme. SAPZ is an idea of which time has come. This is the time to industrialize Africa!”
The statement further noted that at a presidential boardroom meeting on December 4, 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 boost productivity, enhance food security, improve living standards, and create jobs across the country.
