Africa Investment Forum 2025 Opens with Strong Calls for Private Capital and Policy Reforms
The 2025 Africa Investment Forum (AIF) Market Days opened on Wednesday with firm commitments from government leaders and development partners to expand private-sector investment, strengthen policy reforms, and accelerate Africa’s economic transformation.
Held under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the three-day event brings together more than 1,700 delegates, including ministers, global investors, development finance institutions, and business leaders.
This year’s theme, “Bridging the Gap: Mobilising Private Capital to Unlock Africa’s Full Potential,” highlights the continent’s urgent need for investment across critical sectors such as energy, transport, digital infrastructure, agriculture, and industrialisation.
Speaking on behalf of King Mohammed VI, Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah, stressed that African nations must assume “sovereign responsibility” for creating enabling conditions for investment. She emphasised political stability, strong institutions, transparent governance, and modern regulatory frameworks as essential prerequisites for attracting capital.
“Giving means doing our part, building infrastructure, supporting our entrepreneurs, embracing innovation, and driving transitions in energy, digital technology, industry, agriculture, and logistics,” Fettah said. “Receiving is about forging meaningful partnerships and crowding in capital that fuels long-term development.”
She noted that Africa requires nearly $1.3 trillion annually to meet its Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting the scale of investment needed. Morocco, she added, aims for private investment to represent two-thirds of total national investment by 2035.
Presiding over the Forum for the first time as President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr Sidi Ould Tah outlined the Bank’s strategic priorities, known as the “Four Cardinal Points”: mobilising capital at scale; reforming Africa’s financial architecture; converting demographic growth into economic strength; and building resilient infrastructure that boosts local value addition.
“Our youth are our greatest asset,” he said, highlighting the need for greater support for women and young entrepreneurs across the continent. He added that the AIF’s boardroom sessions represent more than transactions, they are “investments in our shared future.”
The heart of Market Days lies in these boardroom sessions, where sponsors are presenting 40 investment-ready projects to investors. The quality of projects has strengthened significantly, with readiness rising from 81% in 2024 to 95% this year. Sponsorship of the 2025 edition has also more than doubled compared to last year.
Both Minister Fettah and Dr Ould Tah expressed confidence that this year’s Forum will deliver concrete partnerships and advance Africa’s economic ambitions.
