Africa Infrastructure Financing Facility Launched to Strengthen Continental Financial Sovereignty
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 18 February 2026 — African Heads of State and Government on February 14, 2025, formally launched the Africa Infrastructure Financing Facility (AIFF), a coordinated, Africa-led platform designed to accelerate the preparation and facilitation of financing for priority cross-border infrastructure projects aligned with Agenda 2063.
The launch took place during the Third Presidential High-Level Dialogue of the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI), convened on the margins of the 39th African Union Summit under the theme: “Strengthening Africa’s Financial Architecture to Finance Agenda 2063.”
Held under the patronage of H.E. John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana and African Union Champion on AU Financial Institutions, the Dialogue reinforced Africa’s commitment to translating financial sovereignty into operational mechanisms capable of mobilizing long-term capital at scale.
Agenda 2063 continues to face financing constraints driven by fragmented capital markets, elevated cost-of-capital premiums, limited long-term funding, and persistent reliance on external financial systems that do not fully reflect Africa’s development realities. Against this backdrop, African leaders emphasized the need to strengthen existing African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AMFIs) while accelerating the operationalization of African Union Financial Institutions.
“Africa has domestic capital pools exceeding $2.5 trillion,” President Mahama stated. “The challenge is not the availability of capital, but how intentionally we deploy it into infrastructure, industrialization, and job creation to realize Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area.”
He underscored the importance of reducing dependency on fragmented financing systems that misprice Africa’s risk and called for a coherent continental financial architecture capable of financing Africa’s development sustainably.
Representing the African Union Commission, H.E. Mrs. Francisca Tatchouop Belobe, Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals, reaffirmed the AU’s commitment to strengthening continental financial coordination:
“The launch of the AIFF is a powerful demonstration of what can be achieved when political will and institutional coordination converge. We are confident that this Facility will contribute meaningfully to closing Africa’s infrastructure financing gap, estimated at approximately US$221 billion annually over the period 2023 to 2030.”
Delivering the opening remarks, Samaila Zubairu, President & Chief Executive Officer of Africa Finance Corporation and Outgoing Chairman of AAMFI, underscored the importance of coordinated African capital deployment:
“The Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions represents over $70 billion in balance sheets, working together to close Africa’s trade, investment, and development financing gaps. Our collective action is central to mobilizing the resources needed to deliver transformative infrastructure and regional integration.”
He emphasized that Africa’s development ambitions require scale, institutional alignment, and disciplined capital mobilization to close infrastructure and industrial financing gaps.
Highlighting the importance of the Facility, Dr. George Elombi, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank said:
“The Africa Infrastructure Financing Facility has been designed to address the most persistent constraint to infrastructure delivery in Africa: the gap between political approval and financial execution. Too many projects stall not because they lack relevance, but because they are insufficiently prepared, inadequately structured, or misaligned with the requirements of long-term capital. African Multilateral Financial Institutions understand African risk, African markets, and African development realities. By pooling expertise, balance sheets, and risk frameworks, the Facility moves Africa from fragmented interventions to a coherent system capable of mobilising capital at scale.”
Dr. Corneille Karekezi, CEO of Africa Reinsurance Corporation and incoming Chair of AAMFI, emphasized institutional collaboration:
“Africa’s development finance must be anchored in collaboration and innovation. By strategically sharing risk, strengthening our institutions, and mobilizing both domestic and private capital, we can build a resilient financial ecosystem capable of delivering transformative infrastructure and industrial growth across the continent.”
The Dialogue underscored that while political commitment to infrastructure remains strong, projects often face constraints at early preparation stages. Limited project preparation funding, fragmented regional policies, and insufficient coordination were cited as key challenges.
A central highlight of the Dialogue was the formal launch of the Africa Infrastructure Financing Facility (AIFF).
Established under a Cooperation Framework Agreement between AUDA-NEPAD and AAMFI, the AIFF provides a structured, Africa-led coordination mechanism to accelerate project preparation and facilitate indicative, non-binding engagement on financing for priority infrastructure aligned with Agenda 2063.
In a further demonstration of momentum toward strengthening Africa’s financial architecture, the Dialogue concluded with the ceremonial deposit of the Instrument of Ratification of the Protocol and Statutes of the African Monetary Fund (AMF) by the Republic of Cameroon.
This milestone reinforces Africa’s ongoing efforts to operationalize key African Union Financial Institutions aimed at promoting macroeconomic stability, providing balance-of-payments support, and enhancing monetary and financial cooperation among African Union Member States.
About the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI)
The Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI), also known as the Africa Club, is a coalition of African-owned and controlled multilateral financial institutions launched in February 2024 in collaboration with the African Union Commission.
The Alliance brings together twelve institutions representing a combined balance sheet of over US$70 billion.
AAMFI promotes coordination, collective action, and unified advocacy to mobilize African capital, strengthen the continent’s financial architecture, and support sustainable development and regional integration in line with Agenda 2063.