The Africa Investment Forum (AIF), a joint vehicle of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other seven partners, has secured a fresh $34.8 billion in investment interest for the continent.
AfDB
NLNG Blames Rising Cost Of Cooking Gas On FX Crisis
The Africa Investment Forum (AIF), a joint vehicle of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other seven partners, has secured a fresh $34.8 billion in investment interest for the continent.
The amount, an outcome of a three-day AIF Market Days held in Marrakesh, Morocco, brings the total value of investment commitment secured by the forum since 2018 when it started to close to $178 billion. At the close of last year’s edition held in Côte d’Ivoire, about $143 billion was mobilised.
Speaking at the closing ceremony last Friday, the President of AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said the interests cut across health, creative industry, renewable energy, agriculture, infrastructure and other critical sectors of the economy.
Adesina said the meeting demonstrated that Africa has emerged as a destination for global investment. He described Africa as the frontier of the global economy, noting that it is bankable.
Also speaking at the closing ceremony, Senior Director of AIF, Chinelo Anohu, attributed the success of the platform to the passion of Adesina, who she said has dedicated his time passionately to the success of the project.
At the boardrooms where the deals were signed, Heads of State pitched opportunities in their countries as chief marketing officers of their economies.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, Dr Philip Mshelbila, has attributed the rising cost of cooking gas in the country to the crisis in the foreign exchange (FX) market and value-added tax (VAT).
Mshelbila stated this on the sideline of the African Investment Forum (AIF) Market days in Marrakesh, Morocco, on Friday.He urged the government to address challenges, which contribute about 60 per cent of the cost of the product.
If these are addressed, he said, they would go a long way in reducing the cost of cooking gas, which is currently pushing more households into unwholesome cooking methods.
On whether Nigeria’s Decade of Gas conflicts with the German government’s interest in Nigeria’s gas, he said it would depend on the details of the discussion and the specific direction of engagement.
“I cannot speak much about German discussion with the Federal Government of Nigeria because that is between them. But I can tell you that the decade of gas aspiration we are talking about focuses on both the domestic market and export.
“It is focused on allowing Nigeria to develop all its gas resources; some can go into the export market and the remaining for the domestic market to ensure we have enough gas to power industry, transportation, petrochemicals and others. It is basically about unlocking our gas resources,” he said..…CONTINUE.FULL.READING>>>
