The continent is putting building blocks in place with the launch of a financing facility for cross-border infrastructure.

The Africa Infrastructure Financing Facility (AIFF), which aims to close Africa’s annual infrastructure financing gap estimated at US$221 billion, was introduced on the sidelines of the 39th African Union Summit under the theme, ‘Strengthening Africa’s financial architecture to finance Agenda 2063’, according to Africa Business Communities.

The AU describes Agenda 2063 as ‘Africa’s blueprint and master plan for transforming Africa into the global powerhouse of the future’.

Ghana President John Mahama, an AU champion of AU financial institutions, highlighted that Africa’s challenge was not the availability of capital but ‘how intentionally we deploy it into infrastructure, industrialisation and job creation to realise Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area’.

By pooling the expertise of Africa’s multilateral financing institutions, balance sheets (estimated at more than US$70 billion) and risk frameworks, the AIFF will move the continent from ‘fragmented interventions to a coherent system capable of mobilising capital at scale’, said Afrieximbank chair George Elombi.

3 March 2026
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