Africa investor (Ai) today convened the 3rd African Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Leaders Forum COVID-19 Roundtable, an exclusive Forum of the continent’s most influential Chairmen, CEO’s and CIO’s of African Sovereign Wealth and Pension Funds, to discuss the role and response of African institutional investors in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic across Africa.
The Forum was Co-Chaired by Hubert Danso, CEO and Chairman Africa investor Group (Ai), Chairman, African Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Leaders Forum and Uche Orji, CEO of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority. Participating leaders recognized that COVID-19 has demonstrated the critical importance of the “5% Infrastructure Investment Agenda” of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA), the economic development agency of the African Union. The 5% Agenda represents a pact where African governments commit to work collaboratively on project design and better alignment of infrastructure investment policy regimes with the investment mandates of African assets owners. This includes by pursuing the new institutional investor public-partnership (IIPP) model, (similar to those successfully pursued by pension funds and the governments of Australia and Canada). In return, African institutional investors agreed to employ best endeavors to increase their allocation of African infrastructure investment to 5% of assets under management within 5 years and support the African Institutional Infrastructure Co-Investment Platform initiative, for African sovereign investors and international pension and sovereign fund peers to collaboratively co-invest in each other’s markets across the continent.
Regarding progress on the infrastructure co-investment platform, updates on AiAssetX – the 5% Agenda’s digital blockchain African Infrastructure Co-Investment Platform, were showcased to participants and secured additional bankable and investable co-investment projects from participating pension and sovereign wealth funds, valued in excess of $3bn.
Roundtable discussion leaders included Hubert Danso, CEO and Chairman, Africa investor, Chairman, African Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Leaders Forum, Hiro Mizuno, Executive Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Japan’s US$1.6trillion Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), H.E. Raila Odinga, fmr Prime Minister of Kenya and now High Representative for Infrastructure Development, African Union Commission; Uche Orji, Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA); Solomon Asamoah, CEO, Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF); Sundeep Raichura, Chairman, Kenya Pension Fund Investment Consortium (KEPFIC); Ayman Soliman, Chief Executive Officer, The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (SFE); Nicholas Firzli, Director-General, World Pensions Council (WPC); Duncan Bonfield, Chief Executive, International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds (IFSWF); John Denton, Secretary General, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC); Eloy Lindeijer, Chief Executive Officer, PGGM Investment Management and Mbui Wagacha, Former Ag. Chair, Board of Central Bank of Kenya, Former Chair, Kenyan Sovereign Wealth Fund.
In addition to the leaders from African Sovereign Wealth and Pension Funds, international investment leaders and co-investment partners from Chicago Teachers Pension Fund, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, the One Planet group of global Sovereign Wealth Funds, Casey Family Programs and Sweden’s AP3 Pension Fund participated in the dialogue.
The roundtable concluded with The African Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Leaders Forum and the AUDA Continental Business Network, agreeing to redouble efforts to facilitate infrastructure co-investment partnerships and rapidly drive IIPPs with African governments and development finance partners, as a response to COVID-19, with a focus on AfCFTA-related industrial infrastructure, and the healthcare and agriculture sectors.
“5% Infrastructure Investment Agenda”
For more information contact:
Hubert Danso,
CEO and Chairman, Africa investor, Chairman, African Sovereign Wealth and Pension Fund Leaders Forum
Email: amofokeng@africainvestor.com
