Africa investor (Ai), a leading investment research and communications group, said it will host top investors at a major summit in Durban, South Africa, to discuss ways to boost private sector investment in African agricultural sector.

The Ai Agribusiness Investment Summit, will be held in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Rural Development of KwaZulu-Natal from August 31 to September 1 in Durban.

The summit will profile African investment opportunities in agribusiness to the global investment community, as well as bring farmers, investors and rural entrepreneurs together to develop transaction structures and investment partnerships capable of enabling large- and small-scale farmers to access critical investment and finance.

The two-day event has secured the participation of leading international agribusiness investors and financing institutions working in Africa, who have a combined investment capacity of over $1 billion for agriculture investments across the continent, said a statement from Ai.

As the global economy recovers from the economic downturn, there is renewed international interest from US, European and Asian investors in soft commodities, it stated.

Investors attending the summit include the International Finance Corporation, Agri-Vie, Imara Asset Management, Standard Bank, Chayton Capital, African Development Bank, Barak Structured Trade Finance, Agriterra, African Export-Import Bank, Silk Invest, Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Rohatyn Group, Bunengi Group, Standard Chartered, DEG, ABSA, the Industrial Development Corporation and OLAM.-TradeArabia News Service