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Africa’s tech sector has produced nine unicorns and billions in funding since 2015, yet no founder has become a dollar billionaire. Industry leaders say the answer lies in the structure of African capital markets.
AfCFTA and Quest Ghana have signed a $5.17bn digital trade corridor deal combining a commodities exchange and interoperable payment system to push intra-African trade from $200bn to $500bn.
Ethiopia is establishing its first specialised mortgage refinancing company, capitalised at 100 billion birr, with IFC committing up to $200 million to unlock long-term housing finance.
From Afreximbank’s billions to a Nigerian billionaire’s personal cheque, here’s who is really funding Dangote’s refinery and fertiliser empire, and why African money, not foreign banks, is doing the heavy lifting.
Mutapa Energy Resources has secured $300m from a Chinese-backed consortium to develop Sandawana Lithium Mine, targeting a resource base of 90 million tons as Zimbabwe pushes to dominate Africa’s lithium value chain.
Africa remains a key destination for foreign investors with long-term ambitions. In 2025, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows added about $70 billion to the region’s economy despite a decline in mega one-off deals.
Kenya’s government is looking to tap into the more than Ksh1 trillion ($7.7 billion) Kenyans have saved in Saccos to help finance the country’s next wave of infrastructure projects.
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has reached financial close on a $753 million railway project that will rehabilitate a cross-border rail line linking Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kenya has signed a Ksh22.1 billion ($171.31 million) financing agreement with Japan to support local vehicle assembly, reduce energy losses, and fund the government’s reform agenda.
LEONI Cable Solutions is investing €60 million in its first African plant in Morocco’s Kenitra Free Trade Zone to produce autonomous vehicle and driver assistance cables.
East African leaders are pouring billions on airports. Nations like Ethiopia, Kenya, and Rwanda see air transport as a path to growth. While the ambition is clear, market reality in the region may prove otherwise.
Africa Finance Corporation is backing a $7 billion fertiliser expansion programme led by Dangote Group, designed to triple production capacity in Nigeria and establish a new manufacturing platform in Ethiopia
Afreximbank will invest up to $100m in an Egyptian gold refinery set to begin construction by end-2026, part of a pan-African bullion strategy developed with the Central Bank of Egypt.
The World Bank’s private investment arm, International Finance Corporation (IFC), is considering backing a new $500 million pan-African growth equity fund managed by a Rwandan-headquartered firm.
At the core of the overhaul is a structural reset—enabling onshore foreign-currency funds and integrating crypto assets into South Africa’s formal exchange control system.
According to stakeholders, closing the gap will depend on building credible project pipelines, strengthening regulatory frameworks, and deploying blended finance tools to attract private capital.
The $10bn Gulf Crisis Response Programme (GCRP) seeks to cushion these effects by supporting the import of essential goods, including fuel, liquefied natural gas, fertiliser, pharmaceuticals and food, while easing foreign exchange constraints
AFC said in a statement on Wednesday that the investment strengthens its pan-African ownership structure and capacity to provide infrastructure financing.
The misconduct occurred in connection with consultancy contracts on the Eastern Electricity Highway Project, a regional initiative linking Ethiopia and Kenya to boost cross-border electricity trade.
The inflows place the East African nation second only to Egypt on the continent, according to figures cited by government officials, underscoring growing investor confidence in a market long closed off from the rest of the world.
