Oliver Cann, Director, Public Engagement, Tel.: +41 79 799 3405; Email: Oliver.Cann@weforum.org
Cape Town, South Africa, 2 June 2015 – Over 200 companies within the Grow Africa Partnership have together committed $10 billion in investment to agriculture in 12 African countries. This represents an increase of 40% over 2013 commitment levels. Investment continues to increase: in 2013 and 2014, investments totalling $1.8 billion have led to the creation of 58,000 jobs, bringing improvements in services and market opportunities to 8.6 million smallholder farmers, who form the backbone of the sector’s production capacity. Around $300 million of staple and cash crops were sourced from smallholders in 2014 as a result of the investments.
The number of companies making investment commitments within the Grow Africa Partnership and New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition almost doubled, to 210. Over half of the investment commitments come from domestic agribusiness and service companies, which benefit from Grow Africa’s focus on convening and facilitating multistakeholder partnerships to strengthen inclusive agricultural value chains.
Grow Africa released these figures at the Grow Africa Investment Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, as the first stage of a joint reporting process for Grow Africa and the New Alliance, on behalf of the African Union. Progress is tracked against 299 private-sector investment commitments, 200 government policy improvements and $6 billion of funding commitments by international development partners to support improvements in the enabling environment. Stakeholder groups in each country will now review this data on progress and challenges to define further joint actions that will drive inclusive agricultural growth. A report will be available in late 2015.
Grow Africa’s founding partners ‒ the African Union (AU), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the World Economic Forum ‒ announced the transition of the Grow Africa Secretariat from the World Economic Forum to an African base, hosted by the NEPAD Agency. The partners also announced the appointment of 16 senior representatives covering different stakeholder groups to the Grow Africa Steering Committee ‒ the formal governance body that will direct the partnership’s strategy and the work of the Grow Africa Secretariat.
“Incremental improvement will not enable us to achieve the [Malabo Declaration] goals set by African countries for 2025. We need a transformation that requires the coordinated efforts of a vast number of partners. That is why we need large-scale platforms for public-private sector collaboration such as Grow Africa,” said Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency.
“We stand at a pivotal moment of opportunity to capitalize on an enormous body of collective learning to foster successful public-private cooperation. We must seize this opportunity to deliver on the promise of African agriculture to drive sustainable and inclusive economic growth for the continent,” said Sarita Nayyar, Managing Director, World Economic Forum.
About Grow Africa
The Grow Africa Partnership was founded jointly in 2011 by the African Union (AU), The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the World Economic Forum to enable countries to realize the potential of the agriculture sector for economic growth and job creation, particularly among farmers, women and youth.
About the Grow Africa Investment Forum
The Grow Africa Investment Forum (GAIF) represents the largest gathering of public and private-sector investors in African agriculture, aligned on a common goal of strengthening multistakeholder partnerships and platforms to accelerate inclusive investment in the sector. Over 300 leaders of business, government, civil society, international organizations and farmer associations are taking part in the 2015 Investment Forum
More than 1,250 participants are taking part in the 25th World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa, from 3 to 5 June 2015. The theme of the meeting is “Then and Now: Reimagining Africa’s Future”.
The Co-Chairs of the World Economic on Africa are: Antony Jenkins, Group Chief Executive, Barclays, United Kingdom; Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Undersecretary-General and Executive Director, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN WOMEN), New York; Patrice Motsepe, Founder and Executive Chairman, African Rainbow Minerals, South Africa; Paul Polman, Chief Executive Officer, Unilever, United Kingdom; and Sir Michael Rake, Chairman, BT Group, United Kingdom.
Notes to Editors
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