AVCA Calls for Patient Capital to Fund Africa’s Infrastructure and Local Manufacturing

The African Private Capital Association (AVCA) has urged investors to fund hard infrastructure and shift Africa’s economic model from raw material extraction to localised value creation, positioning private capital as a vital bridge for the continent’s resilience and growth.

Speaking at the Sustainable Investing in Africa Summit in London on October 15th, AVCA CEO Abi Mustapha-Maduakor said sustainability has never been more relevant in Africa, describing it as “a vital pathway to resilience and long-term value creation” rather than merely an investment label. The summit brought together leading figures from the global private capital industry to outline critical priorities for funding Africa’s infrastructure, industrial transition and climate adaptation.

Saima Rehman, Senior Investment Officer for PE Funds at the International Finance Corporation, argued that the true transformation of the continent lies in shifting from an extraction economy to a localised supply chain economy, keeping raw materials at home to be processed to generate sustainable local jobs, empower domestic companies and build a genuine, resilient tax base. Executing this transition requires deploying patient, risk-tolerant capital into foundational infrastructure.

AVCA’s research shows that between 2012 and 2023, investors deployed $47.3 billion across 847 reported infrastructure deals in Africa, with 16 megadeals above $500 million capturing $19.4 billion. Despite hosting 18 per cent of the world’s population, Africa receives only 5 per cent of global infrastructure investment, with an annual financing gap of $100 billion for basic needs, expanding to $181–221 billion to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Infrastructure as the Foundation for ResiliencePanellists including Tokunboh Ishmael, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Alitheia Capital, noted that true resilience is not just about fortifying individual businesses but about financing the infrastructure and value chains that allow those businesses to survive and scale. As global markets accelerate artificial intelligence adoption, private investment managers stressed a critical deficit in the physical infrastructure needed to power Africa’s digital future.

The summit also highlighted the need to mobilise domestic capital, with AVCA’s earlier research showing that African institutional investors are increasingly driving the continent’s private capital ecosystem. Infrastructure investment in Africa remained resilient in 2025, with deal value rising 47 per cent year-on-year to $1.3 billion, driven by renewable energy assets in Southern Africa and steady demand for telecommunications infrastructure.

Against a backdrop of macroeconomic volatility and geopolitical fragmentation, industry leaders underscored that Africa is no longer merely a destination for development finance but a strategic arena essential to solving global supply chain and energy transition challenges. The European Investment Bank’s Matthieu Ducorroy positioned private capital as a vital bridge, noting that “the resilience of Africa goes hand in hand with the resilience of Europe.”

The challenge now is to convert strategic assets into long-term economic value through innovative capital structures, blended finance and regulatory reform that make infrastructure and manufacturing projects bankable at scale.

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