I remember a time, níos mó 20 bliain ó shin anois, nuair a bhog caipitil beagnach aon gairmiúil-bhainistiú thar theorainneacha san Afraic. When aid and corruption drove the investment narrative. When Africa was called the “mór-roinn hopeless". When sustainability wasn’t even part of an investor’s vocabulary. We’ve come a long way.

The millennium heralded rapid growth across the African continent. At around 3%, Tá na rátaí mainneachtana ar bhonneagar na hAfraice cuid de na cinn is ísle sa domhan. Africa has the fastest growing population and is seeing a wave of innovation and entrepreneurship sweeping across the continent. The latter is strongly enabled by mobile phone technology which has directly facilitated a financing revolution. Lasmuigh den greille Suiteálacha painéil gréine a bheith proliferated, ceannaíodh trí íocaíochtaí míosúla a rinneadh ar teileafóin phóca, through companies like Mobisol and M-Kopa.

Ar ndóigh, imeachtaí domhanda agus baile, lena n-áirítear an 2014 turraing ola-phraghas hit geilleagair mhóra go dona; againn le feiceáil titim le déanaí i bhfeidhmíocht i Angóla, An Nigéir, and my home country of South Africa. But overall, African economies have been resilient and the continent’s long-term growth story – particularly green growth – remains compelling.

Billiúin dollar a infheistiú i fuinnimh in-athnuaite ar fud na mór-roinne. Déanach anuraidh, An Nigéir eisigh N10.69 billiún (US $ 29 milliún) banna glas to fund local solar and forestry projects. This is Africa’s first sovereign green bond – one of only a handful in the world (taobh tSín, France, An Pholainn, Fidsí agus an Indinéis). Kenya will soon follow.

An An Banc Domhanda also estimates that aggregate growth in Sub-Saharan Africa for 2018 Beidh a bheith thart 3.2%, suas ó 2.4% anuraidh. The continent is expected to host six of the 10-fastest growing economies of the world in 2018, agus sócmhainní traidisiúnta faoi bhainistíocht (lena n-áirítear pinsin agus cistí a chéile) are forecast to grow to around US$1.1 trillion by 2020, up from US$634billion in 2014.

I mbeagán focal, Tá an Afraic go mór "oscailt don phobal", particularly for investors who are chasing yield and diversification. China’s got the message, committing to US$60 billion in new investment in major capital projects across Africa. Indeed, An tSín bhí ina chuid lárnach de athnuachan hAfraice trí bheith hAfraice scríbe onnmhairithe is mó, a foinse is mó na n-allmhairí agus le déanaí a chaipiteal fhoinse is mó, idir cothromais agus fiachais.

Tá na comharthaí dearfacha, but a lot more capital is still needed, go háirithe ó infheisteoirí institiúideacha móra. Estimates put the easnamh bonneagair na hAfraice ag thart US $ 90 billiún every year for the next decade. Across the continent, 620 milliún duine nach bhfuil fós ag leictreachas; 319 milliún duine ina gcónaí nach bhfuil rochtain acu ar uisce óil iontaofa; agus gan ach 34% Tá rochtain ar bhóithre.

Tá roinnt rudaí is féidir a chabhróidh. An gcéad dul síos, Is féidir "chumasc" caipiteal poiblí agus príobháideacha a fheabhsú próifíl riosca-ais sócmhainne, so vehicles which use development money to mitigate investor risks can attract much needed commercial investment. Some of these vehicles – like An Airgeadra Exchange Áireamhán, which offers FX hedging in emerging markets – have successfully mobilised billions of dollars of private money for African projects.

Another example is the Ciste Infreastruchtúir ag Teacht Chun Cinn An Afraic (EAIF) with projects ranging from water supply in Rwanda to solar power in Uganda. The EAIF is part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (le cothromas ó rialtais lena n-áirítear an Ríocht Aontaithe, An tSualainn, Ghearmáin agus an Ísiltír) and recently announced that it had mheall a céad iasachtóir tráchtála i árachóir domhanda Allianz, as part of a $385 million fund-raising round. This investment signals a shift in appetite for African risk from institutional investors. These vehicles need to be scaled and replicated.

An dara dul síos, to attract investment for high-impact assets like climate-resilient, sustainable infrastructure, development banks need to be more effective at crowding i private capital using instruments like political risk insurance and guarantees, not crowding them amach. ag is fearr, an bainc forbartha iltaobhacha (MDBs) shlógadh níos lú ná $1 caipiteal príobháideach le haghaidh gach Dollar phoiblí ar fud a bpunanna. They should target much higher mobilisation ratios and sharply increase their share of private sector activities (bhfuil faoi láthair áireamh ach amháin le haghaidh thart 30% ghníomhaíochtaí MDB).

An tríú dul síos, frontier countries must compete for investor dollars by making it easier for the private sector to do business. This requires strong, ceannaireacht pholaitiúil, depth in local capital markets, the right legal framework and transparent policies. In particular, local policies should support regional simplicity to facilitate cross-border operations that can generate scale. Mar shampla, a very important, but much-overlooked regulatory amendment recently saw the amount that D'fhéadfadh na hAfraice Theas gcistí scoir a infheistiú isteach sa chuid eile den mhéadú hAfraice ó 5% chun 10%. It’s only when public markets are deep enough for strong exits that we’ll see bigger and bigger deals happening.

Níos tábhachtaí fós, if we really want to see sustainable growth and the associated economic and financial returns, ní mór don phobal infheistíochta a bheith i gceannas. We need to take a leaf out of China’s book, glacadh bonneagar hAfraice mar dheis infheistíochta, ag baint tairbhe as uirlisí maolaithe riosca agus aghaidh a thabhairt ar an bearna ollmhór i dearcadh riosca idir margaí atá ag teacht agus a fhorbairt. Is féidir linn a úsáid freisin ar ár gcumhacht infheistiú luach ar scairshealbhóirí a thiomáint agus tosaíocht a thabhairt "glas", forbairt inbhuanaithe (e.g. through initiatives like Gníomh Aeráide 100+).

This is all part of how we move away from an “aid-based” narrative to one of business and investment. It is also how we can provide the platform for economic inclusion of the world’s most youthful and fastest growing labour force. I dream of a future shaped by bold and wise investment decisions.

 

SOURCE: CNBC An Afraic