Africa Investment Forum 2020 Cancelled
By Abdi Ali
Published December 4, 2020
An annual three-day investment marketplace for Africa that was scheduled for November 2020 has been postponed.
The founding partners of Africa Investment Forum (AIF) that was to have been held in South Africa’s commercial capital, Johannesburg, have pushed the event
to 2021 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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Saying AIF “will continue to curate new deals, track investments and advance the financial closure of transactions and existing deals through its innovative
digital platforms”, AIF founding partners who comprise African Development Bank, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Africa Finance Corporation,
Africa50, Islamic Development Bank, Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Trade and Development Bank, said the decision to postpone the event “follows
a careful evaluation of the impact and evolution of the COVID-19 global pandemic, the attendant risk of a possible second wave, and its associated effects on
global travel, investments and social distancing rules.”
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Founding partners say they have not only ‘underscored the need to boost local manufacturing while leveraging the continent’s vast resources to unlock
investment’ but have also ‘pledged to strengthen strategic partnership engagement and commitments for AIF Market Days to help “reboot investments in Africa.”
At the 2019 Africa Investment Forum, 57 deals valued at US$67.7 billion were tabled for discussions. Fifty-two deals worth US$40.1 billion secured investment
interest.
