• Bio, Elumelu lead push to turn $10bn projects into bankable deals
•Dangote Group, UBA, AFC, Afreximbank seek investments
•Sanwo-Olu calls for free movement of goods, services across W’Africa
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
West Africa’s leading business executives and financial institutions are targeting an investment portfolio of at least $15 billion ahead of the inaugural West Africa Integration and Investment Summit (WAIIS), as regional leaders intensify efforts to turn economic integration into concrete projects, industrial growth and jobs.
The initiative, led by Sierra Leone’s President Julius Bio and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, has so far identified 26 projects valued at more than $10 billion from over 10 countries, following the assessment of 170 submissions.
The portfolio is expected to grow to at least $15 billion by the summit scheduled for November 17 and 18 in Sierra Leone, with the organisers pledging to track whether the proposed investments translate into actual capital flows, a statement said.
The development emerged from the second meeting of the WAIIS Private Sector Advisory Board held in Lagos, attended by leading business executives, development finance institutions and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The meeting focused on mobilising private capital for regional integration, with particular emphasis on energy trade and industrialisation, strategic minerals, agribusiness and digital transformation.
Speaking at the meeting, Bio said West Africa needed to move beyond decades of discussions about regional cooperation and build a functioning common market capable of serving more than 400 million people.
“West Africa is very serious about the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and ECOWAS has been around for 50 years. But in those 50 years we have not done enough to integrate and build a consolidated market,” he said.
The Sierra Leonean president urged business leaders to help turn the region’s economic potential into viable investments, stressing the need to connect investors with projects and identify the financing and policy changes required to move them forward.
He called on the advisory board to “transform ideas into partnerships, partnerships into investments, and investments into lasting prosperity for our continent”.
Elumelu, who co-chairs the board, said Bio had sought to make his leadership of the ECOWAS count by bringing together the region’s leading investors to support economic transformation.
He said the initiative was intended to move beyond discussions and encourage businesses to work collectively across national borders to create jobs and expand economic opportunities.
“We are happy that our political leaders are beginning to bring all of us together so that we can be much more impactful. Today is about the talk that leads to action,” Elumelu said.
“No one in this sub-region needs to be poor. We have all it takes to be prosperous, and we hope this marks the beginning of that prosperity for all,” he added.
The private sector leaders also stressed that the success of the initiative would depend on the ability of governments to provide policy certainty, efficient regulation and security to encourage long-term investment.
Sanwo-Olu, who attended the meeting, said governments had a responsibility to create an environment in which businesses could invest and operate across the region with fewer restrictions.
“When we create that single platform where we can integrate and work together, then investors can come in. At the end of the day, it is business to business,” he said.
He added that political leaders needed to provide the assurances and enabling environment required for businesses to expand across West Africa.
The advisory board includes some of the region’s most prominent business leaders and financial institutions, among them Aliko Dangote, Abdul Samad Rabiu, Folorunso Alakija, Wale Tinubu, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), Afreximbank, Africa50 and the Central Bank of West African States.
Speaking on the investment pipeline, WAIIS Special Envoy, Kandeh Yumkella, said the organisers had received 170 project submissions and selected 26 opportunities worth more than $10 billion.
He said the objective was to increase the portfolio to at least $15 billion before the November summit and ensure that progress continued beyond the event.
The AFC President and Chief Executive Officer, Samaila Zubairu, said regional integration could help Africa take advantage of global demand for energy security, food security and strategic minerals, alongside the opportunities presented by its growing population.
He said the initiative needed to be sustained beyond individual political tenures to deliver lasting economic benefits.
United Bank for Africa Managing Director and Group Chief Executive, Oliver Alawuba, said the success of the Dangote refinery demonstrated the capacity of domestic and regional capital to finance large-scale industrial projects.
He said UBA, which operates in nine West African countries outside Nigeria, was prepared to mobilise resources for viable projects across the region.
Representing Dangote Group President, Aliko Dangote, the group’s Chief Economist, Mahmud Hassan, identified inadequate electricity supply as a major constraint on industrial development across West Africa.
He said the Power ECOWAS Initiative, being advanced through the ECOWAS Business Council, would seek to establish a regional power corridor financed by domestic capital, enabling industries and value chains to operate across national borders.
Oando Group Chief Executive, Wale Tinubu, said the region needed to convert its natural resources into industries, infrastructure and sustainable economic value through stronger integration and investment mobilisation.
Similarly, FA Oil Limited Executive Vice Chair Folorunso Alakija said the region needed to move beyond its economic potential and develop into a competitive global economic hub through industrialisation, innovation and shared prosperity.
Afreximbank Director of Regional Operations for Anglophone Africa, Kudakwashe Matereke, said the bank was supporting project preparation by setting aside up to $5 million per transaction.
He said collaboration with partner lenders and local banks would help expand the pipeline of investment-ready projects across the region.
The summit initiative also seeks to address the challenge of converting project proposals into transactions that can attract financing. The organisers said the advisory board would work with investors, project sponsors and governments to identify financing gaps, improve project preparation and track implementation.
The inaugural WAIIS summit will hold on November 17 and 18 at the Julius Maada Bio International Conference Centre in Lungi, Sierra Leone. It is expected to bring together heads of state, investors, business executives and development partners to advance investment across energy, strategic minerals, agribusiness and digital transformation.