Togo and MIGA Host West Africa Foreign Investment Promotion Roundtable
WASHINGTON DC, March 14, 2022 — The Government of Togo and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) will host a high-level, invitation-only dialogue to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) into Western Africa on March 15. The multi-country roundtable will bring together international foreign investors with government representatives from Togo, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal among others.
Key stakeholders from the private sector will have an opportunity for a candid dialogue with government representatives about optimizing investment conditions to draw more FDI into the region. Private sector participants will include Axian, Bechtel Africa, Engie, Infinity Power, Meridiam, Mota Engil, QAIR, SONATEL, Themis, Vinci Highways, and Africa 50.
The dialogue will take place as these countries recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, a global coordinated climate action effort under the aegis of the Paris Agreement is underway, and the investment landscape continues to evolve.
Like the rest of the world, Africa has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. FDI flows to Sub-Saharan Africa decreased in 2020 by 12 percent to $30 billion. Greenfield project announcements, key to industrialization in the region, dropped by 62 percent to $29 billion. Furthermore, international project finance plummeted by 74 percent to $32 billion. These changes create big challenges as the countries attempt to emerge from the pandemic. FDI can increase capital flows to West African countries without increasing their indebtedness as they face a fragile global economy and a climate crisis.
“In these challenging times, foreign direct investment can help drive economic recovery, create employment, generate taxes, and develop capacity building,” said Ethiopis Tafara, MIGA Vice President and Chief Risk, Legal and Administrative Officer and Partnerships. “A robust investment flow will support much needed climate infrastructure projects and help African countries achieve a strong level of resiliency that will benefit the population across the continent.”
Topics to be discussed by the investors and government representatives include opportunities for investments, key success factors for investors, risks, and associated mitigants. Government representatives will be able to discuss their plans for attracting FDI and how they will foster a more amenable environment for investors.
“The global health crisis has prompted our countries to revise their development strategies to adapt them to current demands, with a view to strengthening resilience to future crises. The impact of the international tensions, which is beginning to be felt in the international markets, risks increasing the vulnerabilities of our economies. To address this situation, investment in the structural transformation of our economies must be continued and processing industries established in our countries. For this reason, our countries’ expectations in terms of investment are becoming even greater,” said the Honorable Minister Sani Yaya of the Government of Togo.
As host country, the presidency of Republic of Togo will make a presentation on opportunities for investment in the country.
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About MIGA
MIGA was created in 1988 as a member of the World Bank Group to promote foreign direct investment in emerging economies by helping mitigate the risks of restrictions on currency conversion and transfer, breach of contract by governments, expropriation, and war & civil disturbance; and offering credit enhancement to private investors and lenders.
Since its creation, MIGA has issued over US$65 billion in guarantees across 120 developing countries.
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