At the AU‑EU Heads of State Business Summit in Luanda, Africa Investor (Ai) pressed EU officials to lower capital costs and to enlist European institutional investors in the continent’s emerging GreenAlpha asset class, a move aimed at boosting green‑industrial projects across Africa.
Ai’s leadership at the summit
Ai’s chairman and chief executive, Dr Hubert Danso, took part in sessions on energy investments, critical minerals and the EU‑Africa Investment Dialogue. He advocated for the GreenAlpha Strategic Investment Partnerships, a framework designed to channel institutional capital into large‑scale projects that support the Nairobi Declaration, Africa’s continental green‑industrial investment pact.
During the meeting, the chairman met senior policymakers, development finance institutions, corporations and asset owners from both continents. He highlighted the role of African pension funds, insurers and sovereign wealth funds in shaping investment platforms that align domestic and global investors with government priorities for a joint green‑industrial transformation.
Cost of capital reform as a strategic priority
The executive called for a reset of EU‑Africa capital flows, urging EU leaders to direct the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank to lead a GEMS Consortium that would implement the G20 GEMs2.0 Directive. The directive aims to make sovereign‑risk data more accessible for investors and rating agencies and to support investor‑led GEMs3.0 sandbox programmes, an agenda first championed under South Africa’s G20 Presidency.
He noted that the lack of transparent, standardised emerging‑market risk data is costing African and emerging economies $15.6 billion each year in excess interest and foregone investment, while eroding $4–6 trillion in long‑term returns for European and global pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds and asset managers.
“We must stop trying to make investment developmental — and start making development investable,” he said. “A competitive global green economy requires a resilient EU‑Africa industrial investment engine.”
He also pointed out that the EU’s Global Gateway, when aligned with GreenAlpha’s institutional‑investor partnership model, could act as a co‑investment engine, lowering capital costs and expanding participation in the fast‑growing global green‑industrial economy.
Related: The Definitive Guide to Strategic Business Growth in the Digital Age
In practice, the proposal mirrors earlier attempts to create cross‑border financing mechanisms for renewable projects, but the scale and focus on institutional investors distinguish it from past pilot schemes.
Potential gains for European investors
The chairman argued that aligning EU capital with GreenAlpha platforms would deliver shared benefits, including secure access to critical minerals, expanded green‑technology manufacturing, stronger supply‑chain resilience, accelerated job creation, and improved industry competitiveness.
He pointed out that European institutional owners and industrial off‑takers could tap into Africa’s participation in the $10 trillion‑a‑year global green‑industrial market, accessing competitively priced African‑manufactured hydrogen, battery precursors, e‑fuels and critical‑mineral‑based technologies.
Green‑industrial cities and corridors
Ai highlighted the development of Green‑Industrial Cities (GICs) and corridor projects that span logistics, industrial zones and related infrastructure. At the summit, the executive engaged EU delegations, development finance institutions, the African Union and multinational CEOs on structured partnership opportunities within these corridors.
The emphasis was on creating bankable off‑takes and governance frameworks that enable private capital to flow at scale, accelerating Africa’s transition to a greener industrial base.
Unified partnership model
Africa Investor reaffirmed its commitment to a unified Institutional Investor–Public Partnership (IIPP) model. This approach brings together global asset owners, African governments, development finance institutions and industry partners to co‑create policies, governance systems and long‑duration financing structures needed to mobilise private capital for green‑industrial projects.
The summit concluded with calls for EU leaders to adopt the cost‑of‑capital reforms and to integrate European institutional investors into GreenAlpha’s IIPP architecture, a step that could reshape financing flows between the two continents.
