"The contribution of companies to economic recovery" was the theme of the annual Forum of CIAN, the French Council of Investors in Africa, organized on July 1 in partnership with the newspaper l'Opinion. Nearly a year and a half after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in the continent's economic recession for more than 25 years, the CIAN Forum called for "a new pact for recovery".
The annual CIAN meeting, which until now has been almost exclusively a business meeting, has seen a strong participation of government representatives this time. Etienne Giros, CIAN's deputy president, explains the reason for this change. "We believe that businesses are obviously at the heart of the recovery of Africa after the crisis, to resume the growth that was his before. So it's the companies that are going to do that, but they can't do it without the government. And it's important first to talk about the general organization of the economy, financing, etc. And secondly they need to accompany the companies in the movement."
There were delegations from Algeria, DRC, Ivory Coast or Togo, but also the presence of the largest continental financial institution, represented by Akinwumi Adesina himself, is the president of the African Development Bank. "It is very important for me to come here. The French private sector makes a lot of investments in Africa, but I want them to increase the level of their investments. Because, today, in terms of all the direct investments of France in the world, Africa represents only 4%," he explains.
Entrepreneurial momentum in Africa
Despite the health crisis, its economic consequences and other obstacles, the entrepreneurial momentum remains high in Africa, according to Etienne Giros. "I feel a strong increase in the desire of African entrepreneurs to create companies and do business. However, what allows African companies to take off is moving slower than their own desire. For example, money is still too expensive in Africa. For a French company, you can get into debt at about 1% on an investment project in France, in Africa it costs 7%! This means that an African company already starts with a handicap, since it must earn at least 7% to pay this interest.
But this starting handicap can be avoided, according to Henri de Villeneuve, founder and director of COBASA and SAPA, 2 companies specialized in investments in Africa. "Money is a commodity that is fairly widespread. And on the other side there are opportunities to be seized. So we must imagine vehicles that allow investment today, certainly local, probably foreign, to focus on opportunities in Africa. I think that today in Africa, the time is more for investment than for export.
For the CIAN, more than elsewhere, companies will carry the recovery in Africa, because of the lack of means of States, knowing that for anti-covid measures, all governments have mobilized only 2% of the GNP of the continent against 25% for Europe, according to Bruno Le Maire, the French Minister of Economy and Finance.
