Financing the Future: Infrastructure Development in Central Africa

Regional Conference, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Hilton Hotel

March 10, 2014

Read a Press Release about the outcome of this conference.

The conference brought together senior policymakers from the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), international experts, and representatives from academia and the private sector to discuss options for financing infrastructure development in Central Africa. It was an opportunity to look at ways to leverage resources to finance infrastructure projects, review financing options through conventional and syndicated loans and bonds, and discuss opportunities offered by public-private partnerships (PPPs). The event drew attention to the trade-offs between infrastructures development—including maintenance costs—and debt sustainability.

*** THIS CONFERENCE IS BY INVITATION ONLY ***

Sunday, March 9, 2014

6:00-9:00pm

Early registration for participants

Monday, March 10, 2014

8:00am

Registration

8:30am

Welcoming Remarks

  • Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf, Deputy Director, African Department, IMF

    Anne-Marie Gulde, a German National, is now Deputy Director of the IMF’s African Department. She is directly overseeing the Department’s work and policy priorities on a number of Southern and Central African countries, including South Africa and the CEMAC. Before re-joining the African Department in 2012 she held positions in the European and Monetary and Capital Markets Departments. In her earlier tenure in the African Department (2004-2007) Ms. Gulde was mission chief for the two monetary unions (WAEMU and CEMAC) and coordinated the department’s financial sector work.

    Ms. Gulde studied Economics, Political Science and History in Tuebingen, (Germany), St. Louis (USA), and Kiel (Germany) and holds a PhD in international economics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva (Switzerland). She has published widely on different topics in international economics, with a focus on exchange rate regimes, currency boards, and financial stability and development issues. Publications on Africa include among others “The CFA Franc Zone: Common Currency, Uncommon Challenges’’ (with H. Tsangarides, eds, 2008) and “Sub Saharan Africa: Financial Sector Challenges” (with C. Pattillo and J, Christensen).

  • Cameroonian Authorities

9:00am

Group Photo

9:15am

Session 1: Domestic and International Financing of National and Regional Infrastructure

Chair:Michael Adandé, President, Development Bank of Central African States (BDEAC)

Mr. Adandé is President of the Development Bank of the Central African States (DBCAS) based in Congo-Brazzaville since January 2010. Before joining the DBCAS, he was Secretary-General of the Ministry of Water and Forestry and Head of the Department of Economic Affairs at the Office of the Prime Minister of Gabon. Prior to this, Mr. Adande was Deputy National Director at the Bank of the Central African States (BEAC) in Libreville, Gabon. During his carrier at the International Monetary Fund he worked as an Economist for the African Department. A Gabonese national, Mr. Adande holds a DESS in Management and a DEA in Economics from Université de Paris Dauphine.

Presenter 1:Arnaud Dornel, Lead Financial Sector Specialist, World Bank:Infrastructure & Project Finance in Africa

Arnaud Dornel is Lead Financial Sector Specialist in the Africa Region of the World Bank, which he rejoined end 2012. He previously worked for 18 years at Credit Agricole, Natixis, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch in various capacities, mostly as regional head of project & structured finance Asia Pacific, based in Singapore and Hong Kong. During that period, he undertook numerous advisory, arranging, and underwriting assignments, including advising the Hong Kong SAR government for its landmark Hong Kong DisneyLand theme park. Arnaud initially joined the World Bank as a YP in 1989. Prior to that, he was a credit insurance underwriter at Coface, and a political risk underwriter at Unistrat. He studied management at ESCP Europe in Paris, received a MBA from Insead and a PhD from Dauphine University, and is a CFA charter holder.

Presenter 2:Laurence Doumenc, East and Central Africa Division, European Investment Bank (EIB):Infrastructure Financing by the EIB, Terms and Examples

Mrs Laurence Doumenc joined the European Investment Bank in 2001. She has been working in the Central and East Africa Division for the last 8 years. She is currently a senior investment officer responsible primarily for Cameroon, Gabon, CAR, Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome & Principe.

Panelists:

  1. Edward Cerullo, Vice President, Debt Capital Markets, Standard Bank, London

    Edward Cerullo joined Standard Bank in 2008. From 2008-2012 he was involved in the execution of international bond offerings and liability management transactions for LatAmcorporates and FI's. His mandate now covers sub-Saharan Africa cross border capital markets. Edward's focus has always been on the emerging market asset class and as such he brings a wealth of expertise built up from emerging market debt placement for banks,corporates and sovereigns across CEEMEA and LatAm. Edward received a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Brown University.

  2. Peter Sullivan, Managing Director, Head of Africa Public Sector Group, Citigroup, London

    Peter M. Sullivan is a Managing Director and Head of the Public Sector Group for Africa at Citigroup. He is also a Senior Credit Officer of Citi and is based in London. The Public Sector Group is committed to facilitating global best practices and success transfer among its client base including Central banks, Ministries of Finance and Ministries of Infrastructure. Peter is responsible for developing business and delivering product solutions for sovereign, regional and local government clients in Sub-Sahara and North Africa. He has 24 years of customer relationship experience with Citi including the coverage of Global Financial Institutions, Industrials and Sovereigns. His product background extends from trade and structured finance to fixed income and credit-based structures. Peter has been covering the Public Sector in Africa for the past 7 years. He was an integral member of the teams that arranged the debut bond issues for Ghana, Gabon, Senegal, Nigeria. In 2013, he was at the forefront of the debut bond issue and rating for Rwanda, as well as for the second issuances made by Ghana, Nigeria and Gabon. Peter also led a Risk Capital Review for the African Development Bank in 2008. Prior to joiningCiti, Peter served for two and half years in the U.S. Peace Corps in Mali, West Africa. Subsequently, he worked as a Financial Analyst for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, an agency of the U.S. Government, before receiving his MBA from Columbia University in 1989

Open discussion

10:45am

Coffee Break

11:15am

Session 2: Public-Private Partnerships: Opportunities and Risks

Chair: Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, Cameroon

Presenter 1:Maria Luisa Abrantes,CEO, Angola National Investment Agency (ANIP):Public-Private Partnerships and Investment Incentives

Mrs. Maria Luisa Abrantes, Ph D., was born in Angola. She holds a law degree from Agostinho Neto University in Angola, completed her post-graduate studies at Sao Paulo University Law School in Brazil, Georgetown University and Harvard University, Graduate Business Schools in the US, Lisbon and Lusiadas Universities (Law Schools), in Portugal. Dr Abrantes, an experienced businesswoman and international consultant who was actively involved in the economic reforms carried out in Angola, was appointed in 2011 to become the President and Chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Angola National Investment Agency (ANIP). Prior and since 1991, she was the Representative in the USA for ANIP. From 1990-93, she was Director of ANIP and one of those pioneering privatization process in Angola.

 

 

Presenter 2:Maximilien Queyranne, Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF:PPP Management, Opportunities, and Fiscal Risks

Maximilien Queyranne is an economist in the Fiscal Affairs Department of the IMF. An alumnus of the French National School of Administration (ENA), he has served as diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and magistrate at the French Court of Auditors. He worked on public finance issues for the World Bank’s Africa Region before joining the IMF in 2011. He previously served as head of technical assistance projects for Senegal and Togo, and is currently an economist in the IMF team working on Côte d’Ivoire.

Panelists:

  1. Hassan Adoum Bakhit, Commissionner, Department of Infrastructure and Sustainable Development, Central Africa Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC)

    Hassan Adoum Bakhit has been Commissioner in charge of the Department of Infrastructure and Sustainable Development for the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) since 2013. He previously served as Commissioner in charge of the Department of Economic, Monetary, and Financial Policies, beginning in 2008. A national of Chad, he has held high positions in the government including Director General at the Ministry of Planning and Reconstruction, before being promoted to Deputy Secretary-General, Special Consultant to the President of Chad, and Secretary-General of the Office of the President of the Republic. His high position at the Office of the President allowed him to serve as Coordinator of the economic team responsible for the interface between the government and Chad’s donors, as well as chairman of the technical committee in charge of negotiations for construction of the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline. Mr. Adoum Bakhit holds a doctorate in rural geography from the University of Nice in France.

  2. Mario de Zamaroczy, IMF Mission Chief for Cameroon

    Mario de Zamaróczy is an Advisor in the African Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He holds an MBA from the École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales and is an alumnus of the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris and of the École Nationale d’Administration (all three in France). He worked in five departments at the IMF, and most recently he was Director of the IMF’s East Africa Regional Technical Assistance Center (East AFRITAC). He is currently mission chief to Cameroon.

Open discussion

12:45pm

Lunch

Lunch time speaker:Cedric Mbeng Mezui, Coordinator, African Financial Markets Initiative (AFMI), African Development Bank:Bonds for Infrastructure Projects.

Cedric Mbeng Mezui is currently at the African Development Bank (AfDB) as the Coordinator of the African Financial Markets Initiative (AFMI, http://www.africanbondmarkets.org/en/) which focuses on the development of local currency bond markets and long term finance in Africa. He has also served as a senior regional financial integration expert at the AfDB. Before joining the Bank, he was Manager at the Fixed Income, Commodities and Currencies (FICC) Department of Citibank in Gabon.

He has a Specialized Master in Banking and Financial Engineering from Toulouse Business School (ESC Toulouse) and a MA degree in Money, Finance and international Economy from the Claude Bernard University, both in France.

His recent publications include a book “Structured Finance – conditions for infrastructure project bonds in African Markets” and Working papers in infrastructure finance. He led the publication of the first “African Guide Book on Commodity and Derivatives Exchanges” , all under the auspices of the African Development Bank.

14:15pm

Session 3: Issues and Challenges in Financing National and Regional Infrastructure – Case Studies of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)

Chair:Lucas Abaga Nchama, Governor, Bank of Central African States (BEAC)

Lucas Abaga Nchama has been Governor of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) since July 2008. He previously held high-level government positions in his country, including Director-General of Economy, Trade and Business Promotion, and Secretary-General of the Ministry of Finance and Budget. He began his career at the National Directorate of the BEAC in Malabo and at the Bata branch. His responsibilities in government positions have allowed him to carry out other functions, including executive director of the BEAC, member of the Interstate Committee of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), alternate executive director of the African Development Bank, and interim governor for the annual meetings of the IMF. A national of Equatorial Guinea, Mr. Abaga Nchama obtained a postgraduate diploma (DEA) in Banking, Money and Finance from the University of Lyon II, France, in 1995.

Presenter:Yves Boudot,Directeur Afrique, Agence Francaise de Developpement(AFD), France:Issues and Challenges in Financing National and Regional Infrastructure

M. Boudot is the Director of the Sub-Sahara Africa department at the Agence française de development, where he is responsible for the Agency’s strategy and operations throughout the region. Prior to this appointment, he served as Director of South Asia, based in New-Delhi, where he led the Agency’s work in India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bangladesh.

M. Boudot joined the AFD in 1983 and has served the Agency in a range of capacities, mainly financial risk assessment and including as AFD Director in Ethiopia, Gabon, Benin and Guinea Conakry.

From 1989 to 1997, Mr. Boudot was Air Afrique Deputy CEO. As deputy CEO of the multinational company, he was directly responsible for financial and commercial aspects as well as investments. Mr Boudot was also Director General of the charter company Air Afrique Vacances. As such, Mr Boudot represented Air Afrique on the boards of a number of its subsidiaries and from 1990 to 1997 he was member of IATA financial committee.

Mr. Boudot is chartered accountant, and graduate of ESSEC Paris School and Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Aix en Provence. He also graduated in Economics from Aix en Provence University.

Panelists:

  1. Racine Kane, Resident Representative, African Development Bank, Yaoundé-Cameroon

    Mr. Racine Kane is the Resident Representative of the African Development Bank (AfDB)’s Regional Office in Cameroon since 2011. Prior to his appointment, he was Senior Country Economist and the Chief Country Economist for AfDB in the Cameroon Regional Office, respectively. Before joining AfDB, Mr Kane worked as Division Manager, Advisor and then Macro-Economist Expert at the Ministry of Economy & Finance in Senegal. He has been consultant in various donor-funded (AfDB, UNDP, ACBF and World Bank) projects. Mr. Kane holds a Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA) in Macroeconomics.

  2. Hamadou Sali, Chairman of the Board of Directors,Camrail
    Mr. Hamadou Sali, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Camrail. Mr. Hamadou is President of the Board of Directors of CAMRAIL, a Cameroon railway dealership and subsidiary of the Bolloré Africa Logistics Group. He is also President of the Board of JC Decaux Cameroun and Director of the Bolloré Group companies in Chad and Cameroon. He has conducted the CAMRAIL delegations during the negotiations with the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank. He has organized seminars and conferences on several topics including: public-private partnership issues, program for the development of railways to be implemented by States and specialized international organizations. Mr. Hamadou is also a Member of the House and a member of the Security and Defense Committee at the National Assembly of Cameroon. He is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration and the Institut des Hautes Etude de Défense Nationale of Paris.
  3. Boriana Yontcheva, IMF Resident Representative, Yaoundé-Cameroon

    Boriana Yontcheva is the IMF resident representative to Cameroon. She is a French citizen and has joined the IMF in 2001. Before coming back to the African Department in 2012 she worked in the European, Asian and Pacific department and the IMF institute. Prior to joining the IMF, she worked for the European Commission. She obtained a M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Manchester (UK) and a PhD from the university of Aix en Provence, France.

    She co-edited a book on the macroeconomics of foreign aid.

Open discussion

15:45pm

Coffee Break

16:15pm

Session 4: Roundtable Discussion: Lessons and the Way Forward

Chair:Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf, Deputy Director, African Department, IMF

Anne-Marie Gulde, a German National, is now Deputy Director of the IMF’s African Department. She is directly overseeing the Department’s work and policy priorities on a number of Southern and Central African countries, including South Africa and the CEMAC. Before re-joining the African Department in 2012 she held positions in the European and Monetary and Capital Markets Departments. In her earlier tenure in the African Department (2004-2007) Ms. Gulde was mission chief for the two monetary unions (WAEMU and CEMAC) and coordinated the department’s financial sector work.

Ms. Gulde studied Economics, Political Science and History in Tuebingen, (Germany), St. Louis (USA), and Kiel (Germany) and holds a PhD in international economics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva (Switzerland). She has published widely on different topics in international economics, with a focus on exchange rate regimes, currency boards, and financial stability and development issues. Publications on Africa include among others “The CFA Franc Zone: Common Currency, Uncommon Challenges’’ (with H. Tsangarides, eds, 2008) and “Sub Saharan Africa: Financial Sector Challenges” (with C. Pattillo and J, Christensen).

Panelists: Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) Ministers of Finance, Infrastructure and Economy; ECCAS General Secretary; ECCAS central bank Governors

Open discussion

17:45pm

Concluding remarks

  • Alamine Ousmane Mey, Minister of Finance, Cameroon

18:00pm

Joint Press Conference

18:30pm

Cocktail