NAIROBI — The financing needs for development across Africa are huge, and while local development finance institutions, or DFIs, were set up to help fill a critical private investment gap, they have often been held back by a number of challenges.
African-based regional and national DFIs have operated with varying levels of success across the continent — held back by key barriers such as inadequate funding, poor governance, political interference, and sometimes straying from their mandate.
Another issue, according to experts, is that these national and regional institutions have not gotten the recognition they deserve.