Join us for a relaxed afternoon of wine tasting at Warwick Wine Estate. We start off with a vineyard safari before heading down to the Forest Courtyard for drinks.

Pre-registration link to come shortly.

Pick up your badge and grab a coffee as we get ready to start the day!

Welcome to Africa 2023, brought to you by TXF, Proximo & Uxolo

Perception of risk in Africa is always higher than actual risk – but there are still some things to keep an eye on if you want to do business in the region. Our opening session brings you on a continent-wide tour of risk profiles across Sub-Saharan Africa, considering innovations from BRICS to US Dollar alternatives.

Sovereigns are the drivers behind projects in most African countries. Our keynote panel gathers key players from governments across the continent to consider:

• Project pipelines and priorities
• What sovereigns need from the global financing markets to help get projects over the line
• Projects underway to support development across various countries

Grab a coffee and get networking!

Simply put, most projects would not get done without DFI or MDB involvement. This session gathers leading DFI and multilateral voices active across Africa to ask:

• What schemes and initiatives do our DFIs run to encourage investment into Africa?

• How do DFIs collaborate with ECAs and the private sector to get more deals done?

• What role does private capital investment play in DFI transactions?

• What does the project pipeline look like, and how will DFIs mobilise capital into Africa’s considerable infrastructure gap?

Africa can be a challenging market for exporters; high risk perceptions mean that it can be hard to source financing and make the most of the ripe opportunities in the continent. This session asks both international exporters looking to the continent, and African exporters looking at inter-continental trade:

• Do African exporters understand the potential of ECA finance? How can ECAs better educate the market on the product?

• What do international exporters need from ECAs to help them do business on the continent?

• Has the ratification of the AfCFTA improved local exporters’ abilities to export within the continent?

ECAs remain a vital ingredient in African deals. This session brings together international ECAs to consider:

• What products, policies and initiatives are ECAs offering that will be particularly useful in an African context?

• What role do ECAs have to play in Africa’s Just Transition?

• How are ECAs partnering with local African institutions to best service the continent’s needs?

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) should bring bountiful opportunities to local companies - but how can we connect these SMEs to financing? Given the tight criteria that international banks stick to, this session considers:

• How can the trade finance community help to connect African and women owned SMEs to working capital finance? 

• What role do local banks have to play? 

• What role can DFIs play in supporting women and African owned SMEs?

Get your business cards at the ready for our networking lunch break

Despite often smaller ticket sizes, healthcare and social infrastructure projects are vital for Africa’s development. This session considers how we finance these projects:

• How are healthcare exporters securing financing for small ticket deals?

• Could longer tenors help finance social infrastructure projects?

• What role do DFIs and ECAs play in ensuring social infrastructure deals get over the line? Could we see more collaboration between the two agencies?

• What role does private capital have to play in financing social infrastructure projects?

The purpose of development finance is to support development - but how do we guarantee that our projects have a tangible social impact? This session considers:

• How do we ensure that funds earmarked for impactful projects are used as intended, and why is measuring impact important?

• How do we implement compliance and fraud prevention without 'red taping' projects which already struggle to access finance?

• How do we measure a project's impact, and why is reporting so important?

• Why should private investment partners be concerned about corruption, and why is it important to report these instances?

Whilst fossil fuels are likely to remain an important part of Africa’s energy mix, there is significant appetite for developing more renewables. This session considers:

• Sourcing bankable renewable projects in Africa

• The role of ECA and DFI backing in African renewables

• The unique challenges dealmakers face when procuring renewables project across the continent

There’s no dearth of enthusiasm when it comes to investing in Africa, but how do we ensure that there are enough bankable projects on the market to meet investment demands? This session gathers financiers, agencies, and those seeking finance to consider:

• What creative methods can we use to crowd in financing for African projects?
• What needs to be done in the procurement stage to ensure that projects are bankable?
• What qualities do projects need to have in order to attract financing? 

Grab a coffee and keep networking!

When risks are high, support from agencies can make a huge difference to a project’s viability. Over the last years, we’ve seen ECAs and DFIs working together more and more to help mitigate risk on vital projects. This session considers the trend:

• What type of project can benefit from combined ECA and DFI support?

• What challenges arise from the collaboration between ECAs and DFIs on African projects?

• We examine real-life transactions which have benefitted from collaboration between ECAs and DFIs

At Exile, we proudly amplify women's voices that drive the industry worldwide, with a special commitment to uplifting African women and recognizing their crucial role. Sign up to our interactive breakfast briefing to discuss with your peers:

• How can women leverage connections with each other to advance their careers?
• How do we ensure that African women have pivotal roles in financing projects on the continent, and why is this important?
• What areas of export, project, and development finance are more gender diverse and why might this be the case?
• How do we ensure that women don't get stuck in middle management, or doing 'invisible' work that doesn't give them a platform?
• What role do men have to play in uplifting female colleagues?

Welcome back to the second day of Africa 2023, brought to you by TXF, Proximo, and Uxolo

Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves across the world but, over a year into the conflict, Africa's relationship with the country remains uncertain. This keynote considers:

• How the continent has fared since the war began
• Russia's impact on Africa's agribusiness and industry
• What relationship will Africa have with Russia moving forward, and how will this impact businesses?

Energy transition remains a global priority, but in Africa it is essential that this transition is ‘Just’. This session considers what the energy transition will look like in an African context, prioritising development whilst protecting communities most at risk of climate disaster.

• What should energy transition look like in Africa? 
• How are African sovereigns approaching Africa's energy transition? What can the international community to do support transition, delivering on promises made at COPs over the past years?
• Should ECAs consider loosening restrictions on transition fuels – such as natural gas – in developing countries?

• What projects under development will help propel Africa’s transition?

Pop over to the meeting hub during the networking break to get a quick new headshot for your Linkedin from our professional photographer!

Transport infrastructure is vital for connecting communities, economic empowerment, and Africa's energy transition. But how can we bring more projects to financial close? Here, we consider:

• What does the project pipeline look like for transport infrastructure projects across Africa?

• What lessons can be learned from successful African transport projects such as the Abidjan metro?
• How do ESG requirements impact project procurement?

• What do African governments need from the financing community to ensure that vital projects go ahead?

Africa’s resource riches make the metals and mining industry a key contributor to the region’s economy. This session considers:

• How to create a sustainable mining industry that continues to support African business

• Mining for energy transition metals

• Transparency and accountability surrounding working conditions

• Balancing ESG requirements with the need to continue supporting Africa’s mining industry

It’s all very well generating power, but how do we transport it to communities? South Africa, in particular, is renowned for poor electricity transmission, but the issue pervades across the continent. This session considers:

• How do we bring more transmission lines to market?

• How do dealmakers mitigate risks and navigate the legal challenges of working on cross-jurisdictional projects?

• What do we need from governments to improve Africa’s energy transmission?

• What work needs to be done to convince governments that transmission projects are important?

Thank you for joining us for Africa 2023, brought to you by TXF, Proximo & Uxolo

Get your business cards at the ready for our networking lunch