Inside Africa50’s push to unlock African capital for infrastructure

With aid from traditional donors in decline, African governments are being pushed to look inward to finance everything from emergency assistance to public health and long-term infrastructure.

That shift is reshaping the financing landscape, prompting new approaches to mobilize domestic capital and putting the spotlight on institutions such as Africa50, which in many ways was created to do just that.

Launched in 2015 by African states and the African Development Bank, Africa50 was set up as a Pan-African investment platform to help close the continent’s infrastructure funding gap, which stands between $68 billion and $108 billion. By combining project development and financing under one roof, it backs medium- to large-scale projects that can deliver both development impact and commercial returns.