The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions (AAMFI) recently held two days of high-level talks in Sandton, South Africa, to agree on a new framework for funding Africa’s infrastructure needs through domestic resources. The meeting, which ran from October 7 to 8, brought together executives from leading African financial institutions to design mechanisms that can mobilize local capital and reduce reliance on external borrowing.
AUDA-NEPAD Chief Executive Officer Nardos Bekele-Thomas said the partnership aims to align Africa’s development priorities with sustainable, internally financed growth. The agenda reflects a broader continental shift toward financial autonomy, as governments face shrinking concessional financing and higher debt-servicing costs. The focus is on how to fund the next generation of infrastructure, from power and transport to digital connectivity, through mechanisms built and owned by Africans.
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At the center of the discussions is the operationalization of the African Union Development Fund (AUDF), a new vehicle designed to pool African savings and channel them into development projects. The fund is part of a wider effort to tap the continent’s untapped financial resources, including over US$700 billion held in pension and sovereign wealth funds and US$100 billion sent annually by the diaspora in remittances. Redirecting even a small share of these flows into infrastructure could close a significant portion of Africa’s US$130–170 billion annual infrastructure financing gap, according to African Development Bank estimates.
CEO of AUDA-NEPAD, Nardos Bekele-Thomas speaking during the high-level talks with African financial institutions in Santons, South Africa
