Ai Group Urges EU to Cut Capital Costs for Green
The Africa Investor (Ai) group took a leading role at the recent AU–EU Heads of State Business Summit in Luanda, promoting a continent-wide push to make green industrial projects attractive to pension funds and insurers. Dr Hubert Danso, Ai’s Chairman and CEO, argued that African institutional investors need dedicated platforms to channel their capital into the continent’s energy and critical mineral sectors.
Reducing the cost of capital
Dr Danso urged a reset in EU, Africa capital flows, specifically calling on European leaders to mandate the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Investment Bank to lead within the GEMS Consortium. The goal is to implement the G20 GEMs2.0 Directive, which aims to democratise sovereign-risk data for investors and rating agencies.
The lack of transparent, standardised data for emerging markets is expensive. Dr Danso noted that the absence of this data costs African and emerging economies $15.6 billion annually in excess interest and foregone investment. It also erodes $4 to $6 trillion in long-term returns for European pension funds, insurers, and sovereign wealth funds.
Dr Danso argued that Europe’s Global Gateway initiative can act as a strategic co-investment engine when aligned with GreenAlpha’s Institutional Investor, Public Partnership architecture. This alignment is meant to accelerate European institutional mobilisation and lower the cost of capital. He stated, “We must stop trying to make investment developmental, and start making development investable. A competitive global green economy requires a resilient EU, Africa industrial investment engine.”
Unlocking Europe’s institutional assets
This includes secure access to critical minerals, expanded green-technology manufacturing, and improved supply-chain resilience. Dr Danso said the strategy would accelerate job creation and strengthen long-term portfolio returns for European universal owners.
He noted that EU industrial offtakers and universal owners stand to benefit directly from Africa’s participation in the $10 trillion-a-year global green-industrial economy. This access includes competitively priced African-manufactured hydrogen, battery-precursor materials, e-fuels, and critical-mineral-based technologies.
GreenAlpha aims to establish African green-industrial infrastructure as a globally competitive, investable asset class. Dr Danso explained that this approach establishes for Africa what Canada and Australia built for their own economies: a dedicated, institutional-grade infrastructure asset class capable of mobilising long-duration global capital at scale.
Building green industrial cities
The GreenAlpha platform outlines opportunities in logistics and industrial corridors, along with specific zones known as Green-Industrial Cities. Dr Danso advanced EU participation in these priority corridors during high-level sessions on energy investments and the EU, Africa Investment Dialogue.
Africa Investor reaffirmed its commitment to the Institutional Investor, Public Partnership model. The group advocates for global asset owners, African governments, DFIs, and industry partners to co-create the policies, governance systems, and bankable offtakes required to mobilise private capital at scale.
