Business
Made In Africa Foundation Co-Founder Ozwald Boateng partners with African Development Bank to launch Africa50 fund – the largest infrastructure development investment fund
On hand to kick-off the effort will be Oscar-winning actor and longtime Made In Africa Foundation supporter Jamie Foxx; Grammy-winning musician, producer and entrepreneur Jay-Z; Mr. Boateng; Kola Aluko (also Co-founder of the Made in Africa Foundation); African Union Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Diamini-Zuma; and Sam Kutesa, Uganda’s current Minister of Foreign Affairs and the next president of the United Nations General Assembly.
This will be followed by a working lunch for MIAF hosted by Arthur Sulzberger Jr., publisher of The New York Times, which will also include Nigerian billionaires Tony Elumelu and Wale Tinubu; Made In Africa Foundation CEO Chris Cleverly; Chinese private–equity giant Patrick Zhong of the Fosun Group; ex-UK Foreign Secretary and International Rescue Committee CEO David Miliband; and other African leaders (TBA for security reasons).
Africa50 will be comprised of two funding arms: Project Development and Project Financing. The first of these arms, Project Development, will be sponsored by both the Made in Africa Foundation and African Development Bank and supported by the investment expertise of the US-based investment advisory Capri Global Capital, LLC, founded by African-American fund manager Quintin E. Primo III.
The African Development Bank, Kola Aluko and Capri Global Capital will work as a seamless team to develop unique and impactful financing and investment strategies that will develop the untapped potential of the continent.
At a recent meeting of African Central Banks in Mauritius, the African Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka explained that “to increase the rate of infrastructure delivery in Africa we need to speed up project preparation and project development. The critical objective is to shorten the time between the idea and financial close from a current average of 7 years to less than 3 years.”
Tas Anvaripour, head of Africa50, notes, “African infrastructure projects are increasingly capturing the attention of investors worldwide. However, the number of bankable infrastructure projects brought to market is still insufficient, even though they offer an excellent way to diversify investment portfolios and steady, long-term, and above average returns.”
Having closed over 40 large infrastructure private sector projects in the past five years, the African Development Bank strongly believes in the infrastructure opportunities latent in Africa.
