The European Bank of Investment (BEI) is considering opening branches in four new African countries in order to increase its exposure on a continent where the financial needs of the infrastructure are great, reports the Bloomberg agency on 15 July 2015, quoting a manager of the institution.

“We will open an office in the Cameroonian capital Yaoundé by end 2015, before getting branches in Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique and in Zambia in 2016”, declared the vice-president of BEI, Pim van Ballekom. “Africa is showing a fast growth”, he argued.

Mr Ballekom who was talking in Addis-Abeba, where BEI opened an office on 15^th July, also indicated that “the continent has a lot of investment opportunities in the sectors of energy, water, sanitation and agriculture”.

BEI is currently only investing €2.5 billion per year in Africa every year out of a global portfolio of €80 billion. “We could invest €10 billion per year on this continent, but this will depend on the shareholders”, said Mr Ballekom.

BEI already has offices in South Africa, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia and Senegal.

According to the forecasts of the African Bank of Development (AfBD), Africa should register an economic growth of 5% in 2016, while direct foreign investments would reach US$ 73.5 billion.