The Lusophone Compact is one of many successes that have emerged from the innovative Africa Investment Forum. The compact is a financing platform that provides risk mitigation, financing products and technical assistance to accelerate development of the private sector in Africa’s Portuguese-speaking countries.
The African Development Bank, the government of Portugal and six Portuguese speaking African countries—Angola, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Principe—signed a memorandum of understanding during the inaugural Africa Investment Forum Market Days event in November 2018.
The African Development Bank president, Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina, says the partnership was “designed with one simple, overarching goal: more private sector and public private partnership investments in Africa’s Portuguese-speaking countries.”
The compact was conceived in 2017 during a visit by Adesina to Lisbon, where he urged Portugal’s participation in driving private sector development in Africa’s Portuguese-speaking countries.
Since its establishment, the compact’s partners have worked to address differences in size and structure of member economies. Angola, for instance, is Africa’s tenth largest economy. Sao Tome and Principe is the continent’s smallest, but it is one with a traditionally heavy reliance on agriculture.
The Africa Investment Forum continues to be a conduit for investment into these economies. The Africa Investment Forum Market Days 2019 event featured six projects with a value of over $700 million, which were eligible for Lusophone Compact financing.
One project at that event—though ineligible for compact financing, was the African Development Bank-led structuring of the largest ever single foreign direct investment in Africa. This was the Mozambique Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) Area 1 Project, valued at over $24 billion. The African Development Bank contributed $400 million to the project.
Two years ago, the Mozambique LNG Area 1 Project and the African Development Bank jointly received Project Finance Magazine’s Multilateral Deal of the Year 2020 Award.
Since its establishment, the compact has continued to grow in scope. In September 2022, during a business and investment forum organized as part of the 5th Luso-Mozambican Summit in Maputo, the African Development Bank and the Portuguese government signed a guarantee agreement for €400 million. Under the agreement, Portugal is providing guarantees of up to €400 million exclusively to African Development Bank-financed projects approved under the arrangement.
As African countries currently face challenging conditions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and climate change, the Africa Investment Forum is prioritizing the areas of transport, health, energy, infrastructure, and food security. These are the areas the forum finds necessary to dwell on to drive recovery.
This year’s Market Days event will also promote opportunities in industries where Africa has a comparative advantage, notably music, film and textiles. In addition, it will promote transactions that offer considerable benefit to women.
The investment transactions will be sourced from the investment pipelines of the eight founding partners of the platform. These partners are the African Development Bank, Africa 50; the Africa Finance Corporation; the African Export-Import Bank; the Development Bank of Southern Africa; the Trade and Development Bank; the European Investment Bank; and the Islamic Development Bank.
Source: afdb.org
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Tanzania: Samia Hands Over NBC’s 354m/ – Crop Insurance Compensation to Farmers Affected By Hailstorms
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, has handed over a cheque of 354m/- from the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) as compensation to tobacco farmers, who were affected by hailstorms during the previous farming season in various regions across the country.
Handing over the cheque in Dodoma, the compensation is part of the crop insurance service provided by NBC in collaboration with the National Insurance Corporation (NIC).
Furthermore, President Samia has also handed over health insurance coverage to members of the Lindi Mwambao Cooperative Union based in Lindi Region, through the Farmers’ Health Insurance service provided by the bank in partnership with Assurance Insurance Company.
While visiting the bank’s pavilion at the Nanenane Agricultural Exhibition and being received and briefed by the bank’s Managing Director, Mr. Theobald Sabi, she said: “This crop insurance is one of the crucial solutions in ensuring farmers have a reliable income, without fear of challenges such as natural disasters, including hailstorms.
“I call upon all farmers in the country to make the best use of this important opportunity by accessing these kinds of insurance services. I also highly commend NBC and all the stakeholders participating in this programme.”
Elaborating further on the crop insurance service, the Minister of Agriculture, Hussein Bashe, stated that it will help to recover the loss farmers incurred, especially in various calamities beyond their control.
Citing them as floods, fires, and hailstorms, which have significantly affected the well-being of farmers and caused some to be reluctant to invest in the crucial sector, Mr Bashe added: “However, our President, this step by NBC is just the beginning, as this is the second year since they started offering this service, and the results are already visible.
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“As the government, we promise to continue supporting the wider implementation of this service, with the goal of ensuring that this crop insurance service reaches more farmers.”
ALSO READ: NBC participates in TFF 2023/24 awards, promises to enhance competition
On his part, Mr Sabi said that the farmers who benefited from the compensations are from 23 primary cooperative unions in the regions of Shinyanga, Geita, Tabora, Mbeya, Katavi, and Kigoma.
He added: “In addition to these insurance services, as a bank, through this exhibition, we have continued with our programme of providing financial education and various banking opportunities to farmers, alongside offering them various loans, including loans for agricultural equipment, particularly tractors, to eligible farmers.:
At the NBC booth, President Samia also had the opportunity to be briefed on the various services offered by the bank to the farmers namely crop insurance and health insurance services.
There, the President had the chance to speak with some of the beneficiaries of the services, including the Vice-Chairman of the Lindi Mwambao Primary Cooperative Union, Mr. Hassan Mnumbe, whose union has been provided with a health insurance card from the bank.
Source: allafrica.com
