The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, has called for an unprecedented mobilisation of private capital to close Africa’s widening infrastructure and development financing gap, warning that the continent risks missing its growth targets without urgent action.
Speaking at the opening of the 2025 Africa Investment Forum (AIF) in Rabat, Dr. Ould Tah said Africa’s persistent financing shortfall continues to constrain its ability to unlock vast economic potential.
He stressed that public resources alone are inadequate and must be complemented by large-scale private sector participation.
Dr. Ould Tah outlined four strategic priorities guiding the AfDB Group’s investment agenda.
These include aggressively mobilising equity capital using innovative financial instruments capable of multiplying each dollar of investment by at least ten; reforming Africa’s Financial Architecture through a coordinated national, regional, and continental three-tier structure; converting Africa’s booming population into economic power through youth and women empowerment; and building resilient, value-driven infrastructure that supports industrialisation and natural resource beneficiation.
He said Africa’s demographic trajectory, projected to represent one-quarter of the world’s population by 2050 presents both an opportunity and a risk. With targeted investments in STEM, digital skills, financial inclusion, and entrepreneurship, the continent’s youth bulge can be transformed into a powerful engine for inclusive growth.
Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah Alaoui, reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to strengthening private investment and deepening public-private partnerships.
She said Morocco aims to raise private investment to two-thirds of total national investment by 2035, driven by reforms in regulation, industrial policy, infrastructure, and the broader business environment.
The Minister noted that Africa requires an estimated $1.3 trillion annually to meet its development goals, making innovative financing mechanisms, blended finance, and coordinated investment platforms essential.
She called for stronger cooperation between governments, development finance institutions, and the private sector to accelerate project delivery.
This year’s AIF, themed “Bridging the Gap: Mobilizing Private Capital to Unlock Africa’s Full Potential,” brings together governments, global investors, and development finance institutions to fast-track transformative investments across energy, transport, logistics, industry, digital economy, agribusiness, mining, and urban development.
The Africa Investment Forum, launched in 2018 by the AfDB and its partners, aims to reduce transaction costs and crowd in private capital for bankable projects.
Africa requires $130 to $170 billion annually for infrastructure alone, far beyond what public budgets can provide. AIF serves as a platform to close this gap.
Since its inception, the Forum has catalysed more than $225 billion in investment interest, with $32 billion worth of transactions reaching financial close.
Both Dr. Ould Tah and Minister Alaoui urged stakeholders to translate Africa’s abundant opportunities into concrete investments that will accelerate sustainable, inclusive growth across the continent.
