Addis Ababa: The eighth Africa Business Forum will be held on the margins of the thirty-eighth ordinary session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 17 February 2025. The forum, to be held under the theme ‘From Potential to Prosperity: Activating Africa’s Regional Value Chains’, builds on the work of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the Regional Economic Communities, and initiatives of governments to identify bankable projects that promote investments and facilitate job and wealth creation in Africa.
According to Ethiopian News Agency, ECA, in collaboration with the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), is organizing the event. Participants will be drawn from governments, private enterprises, development partners, domestic and international investors, financial institutions, and civil society.
African regional value chains offer a strategic entry point, through which investors can participate in the continent’s accelerated industrialization and secure a foothold in a rapidly expanding market. The Forum will allow participants to explore opportunities to invest in regional value chains and special economic zones in Africa and will facilitate a common understanding of the current demand for and supply of finance.
These insights will shape the analytical and operational support provided by ECA for the development of various regional value chains on the continent. The key objectives of the forum are to showcase opportunities to invest in African regional value chains and special economic zones to attract potential investors. It also aims at enhancing awareness of regional value chains and special economic zones at the national, sub-regional, continental, and international levels.
Establishing a common understanding among all stakeholders on feasible solutions to overcome the implementation challenges faced by projects relating to African regional value chains is also its objective. The Forum will create a platform for the exchange of information between traditional and non-traditional financiers to establish whether there is consensus on the need for a digital platform that can be of service to investors, States, and financiers on current trends and opportunities pertaining to African regional value chains and special economic zones.
The Forum also expects to obtain declarations of interest in investing in specific projects relating to regional value chains. ECA has identified three especially significant regional value chains to be highlighted at the Africa Business Forum, which include Agro-industrial value chains, Livestock value chains, and Pharmaceutical value chains.
Since its inception in 2018, the Africa Business Forum has promoted dialogue between governments, investors, service providers, project promotors, and other stakeholders on challenges, opportunities, and actions to accelerate the realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, of the African Union.