New York, NY, 25 September – Africa investor (Ai) announced today that Dr. Hubert Danso, CEO and Chairman of Africa investor, participated in Columbia University’s prestigious SIRI Blended Finance Conference.
Dr. Danso contributed to a high-level fireside discussion moderated by Merit Janow, Dean and Professor of Practice at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). The distinguished panel also included Sabine Mauderer, First Deputy Governor of the Deutsche Bundesbank and Chair of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS).
The discussion explored critical themes, including the creation of enabling financial regulatory and political environments to globally and locally scale blended finance, and strategies to mitigate and manage foreign currency risks in higher-risk markets.
Speaking from the perspective of institutional investors as universal owners, Dr. Danso stressed the need for robust frameworks to accelerate and scale blended investment solutions, including risk data enhancement and risk re-characterization education. He highlighted the alignment between institutional mandates and opportunities to channel private capital into emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs), which often face disproportionate and unqualified risk perceptions.
Dr. Danso advocated for scaling Institutional Investor-Public Partnerships (IIPPs) as a mechanism to unlock and redirect allocations from the $300 trillion pool of global institutional assets. He underscored Africa’s significant potential, particularly its natural capital, vast reserves of critical climate minerals, and the emergence of well-managed investment platforms and programmatic pathways that facilitate participation in the rapidly growing $10 trillion per annum global green industrial economy.
In his remarks, Dr. Danso called on G7 governments to move beyond reliance on dwindling development assistance budgets and adopt bold strategies that prioritize increased government borrowing for sustainable industrial investments in EMDCs. He proposed a reclassification of government spending into two distinct categories—consumption/maintenance and investment—and advocated for proactive investment strategies championed by G7 and G20 nations.
“By deliberately increasing government debt in the short term, focused on investment rather than consumption, G7 governments can unleash positive economic multipliers, boost global GDP, accelerate decarbonization, and realize market-appropriate risk and climate-adjusted returns,” Dr. Danso stated.
He further emphasized that such an approach could unlock $23 trillion in climate industrial investment opportunities in EMDCs, driving sustainable growth across the Global South while contributing to non-inflationary global economic expansion and decarbonization efforts.
The SIRI Blended Finance Conference remains a premier platform for global thought leaders to discuss and develop innovative financial solutions for sustainable development, solidifying its role as a catalyst for transformative action.
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