By zainab.joaque@awokonewspapersl.com Abuja, Nigeria | June 30, 2025 – As Africa stares down a staggering $160 billion annual infrastructure funding gap, leaders at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Abuja are calling for a bold shift in mindset: the solutions must come from within.
That was the resounding message from Samaila Zubairu, President and CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), who challenged the status quo during a high-level panel on infrastructure finance. “We can no longer wait for external saviors,” he declared. “Africa has the capital—we just need to unlock and direct it.”
The session, moderated by seasoned broadcaster Lerato Mbele, opened with a sobering question: Is Africa facing a fundraising problem, or is it struggling to deploy the capital it already has? Despite a growing pool of liquidity on the continent, infrastructure projects remain stalled or underfunded.
Zubairu responded with striking numbers. Africa, he said, holds over $4 trillion in domestic financial assets. This includes roughly $450 billion in pension funds, $300 billion in insurance assets, $150 to $200 billion in sovereign wealth funds, and central bank reserves in excess of $400 billion. “The capital is there,” he emphasized. “The challenge is structuring it to serve our development needs.”
He recounted a pivotal moment over a decade ago when he met with African pension regulators to advocate for investment frameworks that move beyond safe bets—like buying generators—and instead channel funds into infrastructure, private equity, and venture capital. “We need equity capital to take on the risk. And for that, we need smart financial instruments that give confidence,” Zubairu said.
One such vehicle is Different Credit, a platform Zubairu’s company helped create to design investment-grade structures that reduce risk for institutional investors. Through such innovations, pension funds can participate safely in large-scale infrastructure development.
Citing the success of InfraCo East Africa—a pioneering infrastructure development platform—Zubairu called for its replication across the continent. “These models work,” he said. “We need to engage governments, push for regulatory reforms, and draft actionable roadmaps that make investment viable.”
A recurring theme in the discussion was Africa’s vulnerability to skewed credit ratings, which often limit private sector access to finance. Zubairu argued that rating agencies must adopt a more nuanced approach. “Just because a country defaults doesn’t mean all its companies are doomed,” he said, pointing to Zambia, where several firms repaid loans ahead of schedule despite the sovereign’s financial troubles.
Encouragingly, African pension funds are beginning to invest in regional institutions like the AFC itself, which has already secured over $200 million in such capital. But Zubairu warned that deeper reforms are still needed. While the private sector drives most job creation globally, in Africa, it receives only 14% of bank lending—a figure far below global benchmarks.
“We need to fix that,” he stressed. “Governments don’t create jobs; the private sector does. Our policies must make job creation inevitable by unlocking finance for businesses.”
As the dust settled on the panel discussion, one truth remained clear: Africa has the tools, the talent, and the capital. What it now needs is the political will and regulatory muscle to turn potential into progress—from within. ZIJ/30/6/2025
