fter a decade-long period of low borrowing costs, a confluence of rising interest rates, inflation, and commodity shocks have raised the likelihood of overlapping debt crises in developing countries. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) now estimates that 30% of emerging market countries and 60% of low-income countries could face trouble paying down their debts.
Additionally, there has been a marked change in the global creditor landscape over the past decade. Low-income sovereigns’ largest creditors today—China and private bondholders—operate under many different principles than the leading bilateral creditors of the past, making the traditional norms and structures less effective for present debt challenges.
With all this in mind, how can African countries navigate these headwinds to increase domestic resources and deepen their capital markets, while ensuring greater access to more affordable pools of international private capital?
This session will look at :
- Raising Capital: in a high interest rate environment, where and how can we access affordable long-term capital?
- Managing Risk: what tools can we use to improve the risk profile of African infrastructure including widening the available tools at our disposal
- Rising Sovereign Debt Profiles: – what role for governments, and what role for other players?
- New instruments: what new instruments can Africa50 and others use to tap more capital (e.g., asset recycling; investment vehicles; blended finance vehicles)?
- Debt v Equity: how can we get more equity investors into African infrastructure?
Sequence 1 : Moderated Panel Discussion
Moderator : Mr. Raza Hasnani, Managing Director, Africa50, Project Finance
Speakers :
- Hon. Sani Yaya, Minister of Finance, Togo
- Hon. Seedy Keita, Ministers of Finance and Economic Affairs, The Gambia
- Mr. Serge Ekué, President, BOAD
- Ms. Vivienne Yeda, Director General, East African Development Bank
- Mr. Solomon Quaynor, Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure
and Industrialisation, AfDB
- Mr. Chinua Azubike, Managing Director, InfraCredit
- Mr Paul-Harry Aithnard, Regional Executive, UEMOA and Managing Director, Ecobank Côte d’Ivoire
