AVCA gathers Africa’s leading infrastructure investors in Johannesburg for annual summit

AVCA, the African Private Capital Association, will hold the 20th Annual AVCA Conference & VC Summit in Johannesburg between the 22nd and 26th of April. The anticipated annual gathering convenes development finance institutions, institutional investors, private investors, policymakers, experts and other stakeholders to discuss Africa’s evolving private capital ecosystem and how the region will secure the investment it needs to fuel the next phase of growth.

Ahead of the conference this year, AVCA and the African Infrastructure Development Association (AfiDA) will hold a roundtable session focused on the “Infrastructure Africa Needs.”  Intended to continue an ongoing discussion amongst investors and financiers on the opportunities, challenges around scaling investment in African infrastructure, the meeting seeks consensus and actionable insights on what is required in terms of capital, skills, and from the enabling environment to meet the pace of delivery needed for African infrastructure.

The high-level meeting comes as infrastructure in Africa was the only asset class to experience an increase in funding in 2023, according to AVCA’s 2023 African Private Capital Activity Report. The report found that deal values surged to US$1.8bn in 2023 – a threefold year-over-year (YoY) increase, despite the value being a small fraction of the c.$100 billion required to fill the continent’s annual infrastructure gap.

Prominent voices within Africa’s infrastructure investment ecosystem, including Africa50, African Infrastructure Investment Managers, ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund Managers, British International Investment, Old Mutual Alternative Investments, Development Finance Institution (DBSA), Infrastructure South Africa, Inspired Evolution, Convergence Partners, Africa Finance Institution, Meridiam and more will participate in the event, which will be held on Monday, 22nd April 2024.

The roundtable follows South Africa’s government launching the South African Construction Book, listing opportunities for private investment in the country’s infrastructure sector and details of projects ready for procurement. The local market presents tremendous opportunities for infrastructure investors to address the scale of the deficit, fulfil the government’s ambition to roll out critical infrastructure and unlock R1 trillion in new infrastructure investments.

Amidst the challenge of frequent power outages, South Africa has introduced renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) frameworks to encourage private investors to build wind and solar plants that will feed into the grid. This is a transformative action carried in many African countries, as governments turn to private capital to accelerate the clean energy transition. Infrastructure development in power, transportation and logistics is vital for processing critical minerals and can open up value chains that create a mass of local jobs and elevate Africa’s competitiveness in global trade.

Abi Mustapha-Maduakor, Chief Executive Officer, AVCA, said: “It’s an exciting time for infrastructure as an asset class in Africa with investors mobilising finance through new streams of capital on the continent and beyond. Blended finance and private credit solutions, such as debt, guarantees, syndication models, and technical assistance, are gaining ground. The roundtable and conference in Johannesburg will bring together key stakeholders, creating new ways to grow the pipeline of bankable projects and increase private sector participation in the years to come.”