Global Leaders Meet in London to Discuss Sustainable Investing in Africa

AVCA – the African Private Capital Association, the pan-African industry association championing and enabling private capital investment across the continent, will host the second edition of the Sustainable Investing in Africa Summit on Thursday, 12 October 2023.

The Summit will convene founders, investors, policymakers, and industry leaders from around the globe, to discuss the industry’s evolution, trends, opportunities, and challenges in investing with a sustainability lens across the continent.

Taking place at the Sheraton Grand, Park Lane, London under the theme Harnessing the Power of Private Capital to Build a Sustainable Future, the summit will serve as an opportunity for diverse stakeholders to share perspectives on de-risking and scaling up investment into projects focused on inclusive growth and sustainable development across Africa.

As fiscal conditions tighten across the continent, exacerbated by external pressures driving up inflation and interest rates, stimulating sustainable economic growth demands more effective capital mobilisation from commercial and private investors. Innovative and urgent action is required, with Africa’s SDG-related infrastructure spending needing to double by the end of the decade.

Participants and attendees of last year’s summit included Africa50, AfricInvest, Alitheia Capital, British International Investment (BII), DEG, FinDev Canada, FMO, FSD Africa Investments, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Investisseurs et Partenaires, IFU, Leapfrog Investments, Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), Mediterrania Capital, Norfund, Shell Foundation, and WHO Foundation, among other distinguished voices.

The summit’s timing is critical, following developments at the historic Africa Climate Summit, in which government and private sector leaders charted a new path for green growth and investments across the continent. Thought leaders will share perspectives and candid insights on balancing impact with financial returns, understanding opportunities to build resilience in post-conflict regions, decarbonising heavy industries and supply chains, making transport and logistics greener, and examining the investment landscape to maximise performance and impact programmes in critical sectors.

Discussing the significance of the summit, Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, CEO, AVCA, said, “The summit reinforces AVCA’s commitment to galvanise the private capital industry towards effect change and impact on the continent. By bringing together changemakers, world leaders, policymakers, investors, founders, and innovators to exchange first-hand insight into sustainable investing trends and practices, challenges, and opportunities in Africa, we can effectively address and action these vantage points and accelerate the collaboration required to mobilise capital at scale.”