Africa ‘working tirelessly’ to create conducive environment for foreign investments
Africa is working tirelessly to get policy and legislative conditions right to ease the business environment and attract more foreign direct investment, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, said Tuesday.
Speaking at the Africa Business and Investment Forum that was organised by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), Desalegn said as a result, foreign direct investment flows to the continent were growing with a number of African economies now showing resilience to various internal and external shocks.
“Africa has been on the investment radar of many multinationals for decades now as witnessed by increased investment in infrastructure, agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism, to mention but a few. Still Africa’s market and resource potential remains untapped,” he said.
For his part, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said there was need for more private sector investment in power projects on the continent.
He was speaking during a round table discussion on the need to increase power supply in Africa through cross border networks (power pools).
“Africa has huge potential for renewable power generation that the private sector should invest in,” he said, adding the continent was full of opportunities, not just challenges.
The leaders attended different roundtables which focused on African trade and diversification; increasing power supply; the business of agriculture, creating successful agribusiness; and advancing public private partnerships on non-communicable diseases.
