Cissokho Fatoumata

Invest in Africa

Invest in Africa is a growing group of companies working together to address the cross-sector challenges of doing business in Africa and promoting sustainable investment into the continent. These challenges include access and visibility of credible local suppliers and partners, free trade and movement of goods through ports and access to permits, licenses and talent. Creating solutions through one ‘Invest in Africa' voice ensures that we prevent repetition of effort and make our work more impactful. At present, Invest in Africa is focused on supporting local businesses by providing greater access to finance, skills and markets, making it easier for international companies working in Africa to source locally and at scale. We are working together to strengthen the supplier market by collating information and contacts to create a new resource for investors, helping them choose the best businesses to partner with and the best local suppliers to do the job. Increasing the ease of doing business with local suppliers helps build local capacity through the transfer of knowledge, skills and, crucially, jobs to local firms – showing our commitment to supporting governments' work to strengthen local economies and attract greater investment. Launched in 2012 by Tullow Oil Plc, Invest in Africa has since partnered with EY, Ecobank and Lonrho Plc and continues to develop its membership base with companies who share the vision of delivering sustainable investment and building partnerships with local firms to help improve the wider business environment. Our united approach means that companies working in Africa can overcome the business challenges they face and drive cross-sector growth for the benefit of all. We think this is a better way of working in Africa.