With over $4 trillion in investable domestic capital—from commercial banking assets, long-term institutional funds, and central bank reserves—Africa holds the financial capacity to transform its economic future. Yet, according to the 2025 State of Africa’s Infrastructure (SAI) Report released by Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), most of this capital remains locked in low-risk, short-term investments, failing to power the continent’s urgent infrastructure and industrial needs.

The report presents a compelling argument for rethinking the continent’s development finance paradigm. It calls for targeted policy reforms, innovative financial structures, and the deployment of risk-mitigation tools to mobilise African capital for African priorities. Rather than depending predominantly on external finance, AFC makes the case for repositioning African institutions—pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, and development banks—as lead investors in infrastructure.

Specifically, the report estimates at least $1.1trn in long-term institutional capital, $2.5trn in commercial banking assets, and more than $470bn in reserves held by central banks. Despite this substantial domestic resource base, infrastructure remains underfunded and fragmented—particularly in power, transport, and strategic industrial sectors.

Energy emerges as a central focus of the report, where underinvestment continues to constrain Africa’s industrial potential. In 2024, the continent added just 6.5 GW of grid-connected capacity across all sources—compared to 18 GW from renewables alone in India. Meanwhile, per capita electricity generation in Africa has stagnated, even as it has more than doubled in peer regions since 2008.

AFC argues that Africa must shift from an energy access narrative focused on small-scale interventions to a large-scale strategy anchored in regional, interconnected power systems. The report calls for stronger regional grid integration, the introduction of private sector participation in electricity transmission, and a pipeline of cross-border power projects. It highlights Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, and Mauritania as strategic interconnection markets that could rebalance electricity supply and demand across national borders.

In contrast to the stagnation in energy, the report identifies a resurgence in rail infrastructure as a signal of growing momentum. With more than 7,000 km of under-construction and planned railway lines, the continent could double its pace of rail development in the next decade. To support coordination and improve investor visibility, AFC has launched the Digital Map of African Railways, the first dynamic and interactive platform tracking rail development across the continent in real time.

The report also draws attention to three foundational industrial inputs—steel, fertilizers, and oil refining—that remain dominated by imports despite strong underlying demand and raw material availability. Africa currently imports around $300bn annually of these strategic products, while per capita consumption remains far below global averages. For instance, Africa consumes only 24 kg of steel per person annually, compared to a global average of 219 kg. The fertilizer gap is equally stark, with just 23 kg used per hectare of farmland versus 140 kg globally.

The report identifies the ore-to-steel supply chain as one of the continent’s most promising but underdeveloped industrial opportunities. West Africa in particular holds growing iron ore reserves that could feed into domestic processing and production, but only if supported by investments in energy, transport, and logistics infrastructure.

In his comments on the report, AFC President & CEO Samaila Zubairu emphasised the urgency and opportunity ahead: “This report provides a practical roadmap for how Africa can channel its significant financial strength into the infrastructure needed to drive industrial transformation—from scaling electricity supply to revitalising rail and building up strategic industries like steel and fertilisers. The tools exist. The capital is available. What’s needed now is coordinated action to unlock it.”

The 2025 State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report is a call to action. It underscores AFC’s conviction that African capital, deployed strategically through African institutions, holds the key to building a more industrial, connected, and resilient continent