Prosper Africa Plans $170m Investment To Boost African Exports

Africa Business Forum’s Deal Room, the White House’s Prosper Africa initiative announced an ambitious set of $170 million investments to boost African exports as well as infrastructure and mobilise private investment to accelerate African innovation.

Prosper Africa is the U.S. government initiative to increase two-way trade and investment between African nations and the United States.

The announcement was made in the Business Forum’s Deal Room held on the second day of the U.S. Africa Leaders’ Summit which brought together African heads of state, and U.S. and African investors, business leaders, and government officials to advance trade and investment partnerships that create jobs and drive inclusive and sustainable growth on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the Deal Room, hosted by Prosper Africa, U.S. and African businesses and investors announced new and expanded commitments for the first time in a live, five-hour broadcast.

Chief operating officer of Prosper Africa, Leslie Marbury said: “Africa offers some of the greatest growth opportunities for shared prosperity in African nations and the United States. We are committed to investing in Africa’s transformative growth and untapped market opportunities.”

Marbury said:  “on behalf of the U.S. Government, Prosper Africa is excited to announce bold commitments that reflect the Africa of today, home to the world’s largest free trade area, growing economies, and an increasingly young, urban, and digitally connected population.”

Prosper Africa announced a package of commitments to boost African exports to the United States by $1 billion dollars in the next five years, which include new partnerships that will connect thousands of U.S. buyers and African suppliers to expand supply chain operations on the continent, increase access to trade preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and advance the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Prosper Africa also said, new partnerships will mobilise an investment target of $1 billion in private capital to advance African infrastructure and innovation, saying “a $25 million partnership with TradeMark East Africa and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to establish Trade Catalyst Africa, an investment facility is expected to leverage at least $90 million dollars of private financing for African infrastructure with the potential to expand continent-wide.

“New partnerships with the Institutional Investor Network and global advisory firm MiDA Advisors that will channel large-scale investments into African infrastructure and build enduring relationships between the trillion dollar pension community and their African counterparts.”

Since 2019, the U.S. government has helped close 1,100 deals across 49 African countries for a total estimated value of $65 billion.