How The Surge In Military Coups Is Dampening Investment Interest In Africa
The growing number of military takeovers in African states is raising concerns about stability and posing a threat to investment inflows into the continent, as stated by the Africa Finance Corp.
Samaila Zubairu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos-based development finance institution, with an investment portfolio of approximately $11.5 billion in Africa, conveyed via email that the institution has halted a project in a state where it has made investments. Its investment portfolio includes stakes in port facilities in Gabon, Mauritania, and Ghana, and power plants in Ivory Coast and Djibouti.
The rise of the juntas in Africa is “very worrying, especially with seeming appeal of the changes to the mass populace,” Chief Executive Officer Samaila Zubairu said in an email to Bloomberg.
AFC announced plans last year to sell shares in its projects on stock exchanges in London and the United Arab Emirates to raise capital and fund infrastructure development across Africa. But it may postpone the scheduled listing of its African projects due to the setback in the retraction of democratic governance.
At least 45 of the 54 nations across the African continent have experienced at least a single coup attempt since 1950. Over the last three years, coup d’états have taken place in West and Central Africa, a region that has tried to shed its reputation as a “coup belt”
Just last week, Gabon joined the list, becoming the second African country to experience a coup this year.
While it’s still working on “significant value enhancement” of the projects prior to listing, the political situation in the region will delay the timing of the listings, the CEO said.
“With all the coups in Africa today, now is not the time,” he said.
Founded in 2007, with headquarters in Nigeria, the AFC is owned by African governments, banks, and private equity funds. It operates in at least 40 countries in the region.
