AIF Secures $15.3 Billion for 39 African Projects
The 2025 Africa Investment Forum (AIF) Market Days concluded on Friday with $15.3 billion in investment interest and 39 bankable projects, reinforcing Africa’s growing appeal to global investors and signalling renewed confidence in the continent’s development trajectory.
Announcing the results at the close of the three-day gathering, African Development Bank (AfDB) Group President Sidi Ould Tah described the outcome as a promising turning point for African investment.
“The conclusion of the Africa Investment Forum’s 2025 Market Days marks a new beginning, full of optimism, for the future of our continent,” he said.
Held under the theme “Bridging the Gap: Mobilising Private Capital to Unlock Africa’s Full Potential”, this year’s edition attracted financial backing from 32 global private-sector organisations, double the number recorded in 2024. The surge highlights the Forum’s rising profile as a premier platform for advancing Africa-focused investment.
More than 2,000 delegates from private capital firms, investment banks, multilateral institutions, governments and the entrepreneurial sector convened in Rabat to deliberate on project structuring, capital mobilisation and improving women’s access to finance. Around two-thirds of the projects presented focused on the energy and transport sectors, reflecting the continent’s push to modernise critical infrastructure.
President Ould Tah said the strong investor response was driven by the Forum’s emphasis on projects backed by rigorous social and environmental impact assessments alongside robust financial models.
He further revealed that the AIF will introduce an annual dashboard to track the conversion of investment commitments into actual implemented projects.
Morocco’s Economy and Finance Minister Nadia Fettah hailed the Forum as a reflection of Africa’s growing confidence and self-determination. She said the AIF embodies “an Africa that embraces its ambition, that no longer delegates its trust, and an Africa that no longer defines itself by its constraints but by its solutions”.
She emphasised the need to mobilise more African capital in partnership with institutions that respect and understand the continent’s priorities.
Delegates from nearly 80 countries attended the Forum, with Japan sending close to 100 representatives and serving as a major sponsor alongside the African Guarantee Fund, Algest Investment Fund, Ashurst LLP, the European Investment Bank and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector.
The opening plenary featured a high-level ministerial dialogue on improving the enabling environment to accelerate private investment. Several other sessions focused on unlocking capital flows into strategic sectors across the continent.
