Africa’s push to close its infrastructure financing gap received a boost at the Africa50 Forum after two European development finance institutions committed a combined $50 million to a fund designed to prepare green infrastructure projects for investment.
Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Italy’s financial institution for development cooperation, agreed to invest $40 million, while Proparco, the private-sector financing arm of the Agence Française de Développement Group, committed $10 million to the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa – Project Development Fund, or AGIA-PD.
The agreements were signed during the Infra for Africa Forum and Africa50 General Shareholders Meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where governments, investors and infrastructure developers gathered to discuss ways to accelerate financing for the continent’s economic transformation.
The forum, hosted by the Tanzanian government, was held under the theme “A Decade of Impact: From Vision to Delivery”. Africa50 Group Chief Executive Officer Alain Ebobissé said infrastructure remains critical to connecting capital with markets and supporting a more sustainable and resilient African economy.
The financing commitments come in support of African countries seeking to attract more private capital into infrastructure while confronting a shortage of projects that are sufficiently developed to secure investment.
AGIA-PD, managed by Africa50, provides early-stage risk capital to help develop bankable, climate-resilient infrastructure projects. The fund is designed to bring public, commercial and philanthropic capital into projects that can support green growth.
The fund raised $118 million at its first close in August 2025, with backing from the African Development Bank, Germany’s KfW, the West African Development Bank, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the Soros Economic Development Fund and the African Climate Foundation.
AGIA-PD is targeting $400 million and aims to generate as much as $10 billion in bankable green infrastructure investment opportunities across Africa.
The latest commitments also show growing European development-finance support for Africa’s climate and infrastructure agenda.
The Italian Climate Fund, established by Italy’s Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security and managed by CDP, is the main instrument supporting sustainable-development and climate-transition investments under Italy’s Mattei Plan.
“We are honoured to be among the founding Limited Partners (LPs) of the AGIA-PD Fund. Its mission to advance infrastructure development across Africa resonates strongly with the priorities of the Italian Climate Fund and the ambitions of the Mattei Plan. We look forward to deepening this collaboration as these resources are deployed in the years ahead,” said Stephen Mari, Head of Debt and Equity Funds at CDP International Cooperation.
Proparco’s investment is aligned with the AFD Group’s broader efforts to support African public and private financial institutions and expand climate-focused investment.
“By investing in AGIA-PD, Proparco is supporting a transformative initiative aiming to increase the number of green infrastructure projects in Africa. Through its manager, Africa50, AGIA-PD participates in the acceleration of the energy transition on the continent and generates significant development impacts for local communities,” said Tibor Asboth, Head of Private Equity for Africa and the Middle East at Proparco.
Anas Charafi, Executive Director of the AGIA Project Development Fund at Africa50, said the new investors would help the fund mobilize capital toward the project-development stage, which he described as a critical constraint on private infrastructure investment in Africa.
“We are very pleased to admit the Italian Climate Fund and Proparco, with whom we have worked from the early days of AGIA-PD, as part of the group of founding LPs. With this investment, the fund continues to mobilize large amounts of capital for project development, which remains the critical bottleneck for private investment in infrastructure in Africa,” Charafi said.
The investment agreements followed a presidential dialogue at the forum on how Africa can use its substantial gas resources to address electricity-generation shortfalls, support climate resilience as a transition fuel and underpin industrialization.
Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan and African Development Bank Group President and Africa50 Chair Sidi Ould Tah delivered keynote addresses as the country seeks to strengthen its position as an investment destination for international capital.
The two-day gathering, held at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre brought together heads of state, private investors, developers and infrastructure specialists as Africa50 marked a decade of efforts to develop and finance infrastructure projects across the continent.
