The 23rd World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa ended here on Friday with delegates calling for more investments in Africa.
Under the theme of "Delivering on Africa's Promise", the three- day event integrated three pillars including Accelerating Economic Diversification; Boosting Strategic Infrastructure; and Unlocking Africa's Talent.
Among the heated topics was a proposal put forward by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to establish an instrument to allow African central banks to invest some of their reserves on the continent.
At the meeting, AfDB representatives elaborated on their plan to develop the infrastructure financing instrument.
The idea appears to be receiving a lot of support from most central banks in the continent, according to Lesetja Kganyago, Deputy Governor of South Africa's Reserve Bank.
Participants were of the view that the proposal would help boost Africa's self-reliance, which would unlock the continent from the lack of competitiveness that hinders development in the continent.
Reliance on foreign aid to fund the continent's trade and economic development projects is not sustainable, President of the AfDB, Donald Kaberuka said at the meeting.
Kaberuka said dependence on donor aid to fund development projects by some African states should be discouraged.
"We have to figure out how to use the extensive resources of this continent for its own transformation," he noted.
Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta stressed the necessity to remove the non-trade barriers that exist and attract investment "not from a Kenyan perspective but from a regional perspective".
"I see in the next 50 years our ability to have our regional trading blocs becoming much more integrated, moving in the East African community towards a single currency," Kenyatta said.
The meeting also focused on ways to facilitate infrastructure in Africa.
Poor infrastructure adds about 40 percent of the cost of doing business on the continent, according to Kaberuka.
He stressed the need to mobilize African financial resources to fund infrastructure, rather than rely largely on foreign aid, as the African Development Bank currently does, to fund such projects.
The 23rd WEF on Africa was attended by about 1,000 participants, including those from 41 African countries and 12 heads of states from Africa./.