Africa-Press – Angola. The African Development Bank (AfDB) representative to Angola and São Tomé & Príncipe, Pietro Toigo, informed on Tuesday (28), in Luanda, that additional USD 220 million are planned to be invested for infrastructure in Angola by the end of the current year.
Speaking on the sidelines of the III Summit on Financing for Infrastructure Development in Africa, taking place until Friday (31), he stressed that the aforementioned amount serves to increase the portfolio under implementation, worth USD 1.5 billion.
In terms of implementation, he reinforced that of this amount, about 45% has already been invested in different infrastructure projects underway in the country.
Regarding the continent, he indicated that the AfDB invests about USD 7 billion/year in infrastructure in Africa.
Regarding the III Summit on Financing for Infrastructure Development in Africa, he considered that holding it in Luanda demonstrates Angola’s desire to be a regional and continental leader, aiming at economic development and economic integration.
“Everyone knows the Lobito Corridor as an integration project, but Angola has many more integration projects, such as the transmission lines linking the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Namibia, and several logistics corridors,” he said.
The official highlighted Angola’s agricultural capacity, a potential “not yet fully reached, but which can also make Angola an exporter.”
He stressed that the summit shows Angola’s desire to be an African leader, which is why “the Head of State, as president of the African Union, convened the meeting to address the continent’s infrastructure gap.”
Pietro Toigo pointed out, among the challenges, the preparation of projects, which “sometimes have good foundations, but are not yet prepared from a financial, environmental, and social impact standpoint, and therefore do not allow for quick investment, mainly from international financial institutions.”
He also addressed the issue of risk perception, because infrastructure investments in Africa have the lowest default rates in the world, giving the perception that the continent is riskier, also having a low savings rate, indicating fewer resources.
On the other hand, he announced that the AfDB is working on developing facilities for project preparation and savings mobilization.
In his view, African countries can do much more with African capital from sovereign wealth funds and pension funds, to leverage capital that is currently predominantly invested in public debt for productive projects “that give more impactful returns”.
The 3rd Summit on Financing for Infrastructure Development in Africa takes place from the 28th to the 31st of the current month in Luanda, under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Angola and the African Union Chairperson, with the support of AUDA-NEPAD (African Union Development Agency – New Partnership for Africa’s Development) and the African Union Commission, with the main objective of mobilizing up to USD 160 billion for the construction of structuring projects throughout the continent.
This is a Summit that will place Angola at the center of major infrastructure investments on the continent and reinforce the African commitment to the African Union’s Agenda 2063, but also facilitate the simplification of communication between the different stakeholders.
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