Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo hosted from September 10 to 12, the fifth edition of the Invest in Africa forum.

The opening ceremony was chaired by President Denis SASSOU N'GUESSO and enhanced by the presence of Presidents Paul KAGAME from Rwanda, Joao LORENÇO from Angola, Faustin Archange TOUADERA from CAR, Félix TSHISEKEDI from DRC, Moussa Faki MAHAMAT of the AU Commission, as well as the Deputy Minister of Finance of the People's Republic of China, Mr. Xu HONGCAI.

An international platform for promoting multilateral cooperation targeting investment opportunities in Africa, this edition welcomed more than six hundred participants, mainly from the private and public sectors of China and Africa, as well as development partners.

The 5th Invest in Africa Forum led to a press conference, led by the Co-organizers of this international meeting which was covered by more than one hundred reporters, from 36 national and international media.

Mr. Jean Jacques BOUYA, Minister of Development, Territorial Equipment and Public Works, Republic of Congo, President of the National Organizing Committee of the Forum, Mr. Jean Christophe CARRET, Director of Operations of the World Bank for the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Burundi and Mr. Liu Yong, chief economist at the China Development Bank briefed the press on the issues of the Forum.

Balance sheet of the forum   

The president of the National Organizing Committee, Minister Jean Jacques BOUYA, welcomed the presence of six African Heads of State and the mobilization of six hundred and two registered participants, as against four hundred expected.

For Minister Jean Jacques Bouya, the Invest in Africa forum sought to attain two main objectives: the quality and number of participants as well as the recurrence of editions. "We expected 400 participants, we received 602, " he said before noting that the special highpoint of the opening ceremony was the presence of five Heads of State.   

“The objectives have been achieved,” said the president of the National Organizing Committee, drawing on statistics: 52% from private investors, 35% from the public sector and 13% from multilateral partners. "The enthusiasm was manifest and the signing of numerous contracts between African and Chinese partners is a palpable example” added Minister Jean Jacques BOUYA.     

The question and answer session

Journalists took over at the end of these opening remarks. About seven journalists asked more than ten questions revolving around the Forum: its difference from the China- Africa Cooperation Forum, the benefits drawn by the Congo, the subject of the various agreements signed, the level of mobilization of investors in favor of Africa, China and the Africa’s indebtedness, the role of the World Bank in the co- organization of the Forum amongst others. 

Speakers took turns to answer the questions raised by journalists.

Speaking first, Minister Jean Jacques Bouya clarified that "the Invest in Africa Forum (IAF) does not only target agreements. It is a place for exchanges and discussions and these agreements is not for Congo alone which benefited only from 3 agreements”.  

On the fallout from the Forum, the president of the organizing committee listed the partnership agreements and proposals that Congo has concluded with Chinese investors. "Congo has benefited from three of the seven agreements signed, particularly the funding from the Sino-Congolese Bank for Africa, the rail contract and the mechanization of agriculture” he added.  

Minister Jean Jacques Bouya highlighted that "it is not just to sign for the prestige of signing but to see the feasibility and availability of funding”, before lauding the commitments on funding for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), likely to create many jobs. The expertise of the World Bank is crucial to support African SMEs.

For him, the continent is ready to accelerate its development. It needs the support of its partners to implement its own priorities.

Africa cannot accelerate its development without investing in human capital, in road, energy and hydroelectric infrastructure, with emphasis on digital revolution and the preservation of the environment, said Jean Christophe Carret, World Bank Director of operations.

Like the Chinese investors in the Chinese Development Bank and the China-Africa Development Fund, the World Bank has promised to increase actions with governments in the areas of economic diversification, training, infrastructure and the protection of the environment.

“The World Bank supports countries to improve the human capital index, through the financing of health, education and social protection, with a focus on the empowerment of women and the enhancement of initiatives of youths", he said.  

According to the director of operations at the World Bank, Africa is committed to increasing regional integration, to taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the new continental economic free trade zone. To this end, it places its private sector at the center of its economic development program through the public-private partnership (PPP) mechanism.

He stressed the need to strengthen public-private partnership in all development sectors, by involving the will of political decision-makers in improving the business climate and transparency in the award of contracts. The use of PPPs, he continued, calls into question the choice of investors, the modalities of risk transfer to the private sector and the crucial issue of countries' indebtedness are also to be taken into account, added Jean Christophe Carret.

The diversification of African economies and job creation are crucial to the continent's future, and the experienced sustained growth witnessed in the past two decades by most economies of sub-Saharan Africa was largely driven by the boom in raw materials.

For his part, Mr. Liu Yong, chief economist at the China Development Bank stressed the need for Africa to create jobs. Africa must create a million jobs each month to meet the growing needs of its population. “Infrastructure needs are enormous. We must therefore go to the private sector and have funding tools that are suitable. China Development Bank is supporting several projects in Africa” he advised.

Liu YONG, made the difference between the China-Africa Cooperation Forum which is a bilateral framework which brings together Heads of State in Africa and China and the Invest in Africa Forum which is the instrument which brings together partners with the objective of promoting private investment in Africa.

Public-private partnership, the key to economic diversification in Africa

During two days of panel discussions, participants reflected and debated at length on the issue of economic diversification and job creation in African economies, on the one hand, they shared their relevant experiences in mobilizing private sector investment, alongside efforts by the public sector to stimulate economic activity and job creation on the other hand.

The speakers underlined that public-private partnership is considered as one of the keys to accelerate economic diversification, the training of African executives, the construction of infrastructure and the development of digital technology on the continent.

In this perspective, President Denis SASSOU N'GUESSO insisted on the need to promote a model of public-private partnership in connection with improving the business climate.

The Congolese Head of State also estimated that Africa can draw many benefits from Chinese companies and build alliance platforms with other partners.

By hosting this forum, Congo wants to make public-private partnership a paradigm for funding, building or managing infrastructure for its development. This is the case with the National Route No. 1, the Pointe-Noire autonomous port and the Maya-Maya international airport.

For his part, the Chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat invited member countries to promote public-private partnership with a view to developing activities in the private sector.

"It is important to glimpse public-private partnerships at the African and international level to develop the potential of the private sector as a development actor," said Moussa Faki Mahamat, at the opening of this forum.

Apart from the desired public-private partnership, the other African Heads of State present at the Brazzaville conference also insisted on training young people, developing digital technology, energy and infrastructure.

The quality and level of the speakers

The 5th Invest in Africa Forum demonstrated its aura and the need for African and Chinese leaders and experts to give a fresh impetus to the African continent in order to bring about economic development through job creation.

Many participants had the opportunity to share their relevant experiences in mobilizing private sector investment, alongside efforts by the public sector to stimulate economic activity and job creation.

All the Heads of State, who succeeded each other at the rostrum, pleaded for the development of Africa in all sectors, relying mainly on integrative projects including the road-rail bridge mentioned by Senegalese resident Macky SALL.

Discussions were broken down into five pillars, namely Human Capital Development; digital revolution, innovation and the new service economy; Public-private partnerships (PPP) and business climate; Industrialization and global value chains as well as climate-friendly Energy Solutions.

In addition to speeches by Heads of State and co-organizers of the Forum, other speakers grouped in panels also briefed the audience on the importance of the holding of the Invest in Africa Forum. Over fifty panelists subdivided into five pillars were up to the task. 

These included: 

The high panel on what to do to digitize Africa : Albert G. ZEUFACK, chief economist at the World Bank; Jean Jacques BOUYA, Minister of Development, territorial equipment and public works; Haile Gabriel ABEBE, Assistant to the Director General of FAO for Africa;  Racheal Oware BLANKSON, blog4dev from Ghana; Lassane   KABORE, Burkinabe Minister for Economy, Finance and Development; Rima LE COGUIC, director of Africa department of the French development agency; Sergio PIMENTA, Vice President International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the Middle East and Africa; Alex SEGURA, head of the mission of the Monetary Fund (IMF) in Congo; Zhou YUXIAO, Chinese Minister for Foreign Affairs. 

The front panel on the support of investments in Africa : perspectives of the international financial company : Sergio PIMENTA, vice-president International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the Middle East and Africa; Aliou MAIGA, Director of West and Central Africa, IFC; Mehita Fanny Sylla, Director for West and South Africa for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) ; Ibrahima Abe DIALLO , Director of subcontracting and partnerships exchange ; John IRUNGU NGAHU , Project officer, International Finance Corporation (IFC).   

Panel 1 : the development of human capital: Amit Dar, Director Regional Human Development at the World Bank ; Antoine Thomas Nicéphore FYLLA DE SAINT-EUDES, Congolese Minister for Technical and Vocational Education ; Patrick KABISI , chief executive of the Union of Banks of Africa in the DRC ; Philipp KRAUSE, head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ; doctor Christabel NGWASHI Blog4dev ; Randall RIOPELLE, Director of International Finance Corporation (IFC) for China ; Margareth MALU, Deputy Regional Director for East Africa and the Indian Ocean for the World Food Program (FAO) ; Abubakar SULEIMAN, Director of Sterling Banque Plc ; Xu XIAODONG, vice-president of China international intellectech corporation ; Zhang ZHICHAO , Deputy Director of the International Bureau of the Agricultural University of China .          

Panel 2 :  Digital Revolution, the innovation and the new services economy          : Yves CASTANOU, Director General of the Congolese Agency for Post and Telecommunications regulation; Amour-Freddy BILOMBO, Blog4Dev 2019, Republic of Congo; Abasi ENE-OBONG, CEO of 54gene; Zhang JIANJU , general manager of the BSCA bank of China; Karim KOUNDI, partner of the international audit and consultancy firm; Verone MANKOU , CEO Vox Media , Republic of Congo; Michel ROGY, manager of digital development for Africa and the Middle East; Karim SY, president of the Digital Africa initiative .  

Panel 3: public and private partnerships and the business climate: Hott AMADOU, Senegalese Minister for the Economy, Planning and Cooperation; Musonda CHIPALO, Senior Agent for Investments, Manufacturing and Services at the International Finance Corporation; Fubo CHENG, vice president of the Chinese commercial aviation company; Donata GARRASI, director of political affairs at the office of the United Nations Secretary General's special envoy for the Great Lakes region; Musopa KALENGA, Blog4Dev 2019 Zambia, global value chain supervisor with the United Nations and the Zambian Ministry of Commerce; Dejene TEZERA, director of the agri-food development department of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization; Arias DIEGO, Chief Agricultural Economist of the World Bank; Yong LIU, chief economist, Chinese Development Bank.

Panel 4: Climate-friendly energy solutions: Bruno Jean Richard ITOUA, Congolese Minister for Higher Education; Li ZHIPING, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Economy of China; Ian CROSBY, Senior Investment Agent at the international financial company; Christian DE GROMARD, Expert in energy and digital transition; Sidy DIOP, economic and advisory director; Long JISHENG, CEO S.U.S Environment of China; Michael KONADU, Director of Business Growth, General Electric Power in Africa; Martha WAKOLI, project development manager at Virunga power in Kenya.