Africa investor (Ai) today confirmed that Dr. Hubert Danso, its CEO and Chairman, and the Chairman of the African Union’s Continental Business Network (CBN), the African Green Infrastructure Investment Bank (AfGIIB), and Co-Chair of the SMI Africa Council, spoke at the COP28 Leaders Roundtable on Mobilizing Capital for Sustainable Infrastructure in Developing Economies in Dubai, at the COP28 Business & Philanthropy Forum.
The objective of the high-level leaders’ roundtable, focused on mobilizing and accelerating private capital’s participation in lower-and middle-income countries through better institutional investor-public partnerships (IIPPs) and blended investments.
Following the World Bank and IMF annual meetings in Marrakech where the World Bank committed to working in greater partnership with the private sector and aligned with the private sector Call to Action (authored by SMI, Africa investor, NZAOA, GFANZ, GISD, ILN, Convergence, IIGCC, GIHub, UNEP FI and PRI), the roundtable was an opportunity for a synergistic discussion amongst leading infrastructure and project developers, investors, financial institutions, MDBs, DFIs and governments.
The roundtable delved deeply into the challenges infrastructure investors face when expanding in developing economies, the practicalities of institutional investor public partnerships (IIPPs), and how blended investments, by combining public and private resources, offer an unparalleled strategy to de-risk investments and scale the flow of private capital.
Institutional investor-public partnerships (IIPPs) are a tangible pathway to unlock vast reserves of private capital, steering them toward projects that once seemed too risky or unviable. The roundtable highlighted that by leveraging IIPPs strategically, we can create attractive investment landscapes, catalyzing accelerated industry transition.
The roundtable encouraged the broader efforts on MDB/DFI reform and private capital mobilization to help inform Brazil’s 2024 G20 Presidency and the IDB’s 2024 MDB Coordination role. It also directly supports the work of the SMI Africa Council which Dr Danso Co-Chairs and several key SMI Task Forces, including the Energy Transition, Blended Finance, and Legal Services Transition Hubs.
The Roundtable facilitated by Sir Alok Sharma, President of COP26, included eminent public and private sector leaders, such as Sir Tony Blair, Executive Chairman, Tony Blair Institute, Noel Quinn, CEO, HSBC Group, Shemara Wikramanayake, CEO, Macquarie Group, Marc-Andre Blanchard, EVP, CDPQ Global and Amy Hepburn, CEO, ILN amongst others.
The Business and Philanthropy Forum convened world leaders, international organisations, and CEOs of the private sector together to discuss and showcase progress, challenges, and solutions across a number of industries and issues.
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