Some $70-billion would head to African shores over the next seven years for infrastructure development as a Chinese development fund shifts its focus from mining to essential infrastructure development. The China–Africa Development Fund (CADFund) had invested some $30-billion on 85 projects in 34 African countries over the last eight years, China Overseas Infrastructure Development and Investment Corporation (Coidic) Africa manager Nicholas Mitsos said on Friday.
The Beijing-based CADFund aimed to help unlock the $100-trillion-plus savings to be found within the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member States. He noted that OECD countries were unlikely to invest in or fund risky, early-stage projects; however, there would be a willingness to invest in “ready-to-go” completed viable infrastructure projects.
Coidic, which was established last year to accelerate early-stage projects struggling to head to financial close, aimed to conceive, fund, develop and establish essential infrastructure and then make way for OECD investors.
