Responsible investments in the rural and agricultural economy, value chains and integrated markets play a crucial role in fostering economic growth, job creation and development in African countries. These critical issues have been the subject of recent meetings in Rome and will form a key component of the forthcoming EU-Africa summit to be held in November 2017 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
In July, I attended the Agribusiness Investors Forum for Africa, organised by the EC’s Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development, with some 80 participants. The event primarily focused on presenting the European External Investment Plan (EIP), which was followed by a high-level panel discussion on the new opportunities that the EIP offers for sustainable investment in agriculture and agribusiness. The main goal is to use public funds to leverage private sector investment (blending); an approach which is increasingly being taken by donors to encourage private sector investments. The EIP, which aims to leverage up to €44 billion from private sources, will have three components – innovative finance (guarantee schemes, equity, etc.), technical assistance (e.g. preparation of investment proposals), and policy dialogue (to improve the investment climate). It will also provide a one-stop shop and web portal, enhancing transparency, accessibility and efficiency. Agriculture and agribusiness will be key beneficiaries of the EIP.
Private sector investment was also the focus of the African Union-EU Agriculture Ministers Conference which took place on 2 July at FAO headquarters in Rome. A few conclusions from the conference which will be presented at the EU-Africa summit in November include: the need for alignment of public and private investments for agriculture/agribusiness and that these investments must have local impact on jobs and incomes; and that there is a critical role for governments in creating a conducive investment climate.
Besides these, other conclusions from sessions at the conference included the role of ICT to enhance productivity, create jobs and increase incomes for young farmers, and to increase ICTs in climate-smart agricultural monitoring and early warning systems. These topics will also be discussed at the EU-Africa summit and CTA will follow discussions with interest as they are close to our priorities and projects.
In this issue of Spore, and also online where we have additional articles, you will find plenty of informative articles that relate to these key topics. We will be highlighting these issues and events through our social media channels and we hope you will follow the conversations leading up to the EU-Africa summit in November.
