‘Africa holds more than $2tr in non-bank domestic capital’
Africa now holds more than $2 trillion in non-bank domestic capital—surpassing the roughly $1.7 trillion in external financing it received over the past decade—signalling a decisive shift in the continent’s
Africa now holds more than $2 trillion in non-bank domestic capital—surpassing the roughly $1.7 trillion in external financing it received over the past decade—signalling a decisive shift in the continent’s development challenge from raising funds to deploying them productively, according to the latest State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2026 (SAIR 2026) released by the Africa Finance Corporation.
The report revealed that domestic capital across the continent has reached unprecedented levels, driven largely by pension funds and insurance assets, which have crossed the $1 trillion mark for the first time. It also shows that public development bank assets stand at $276 billion, sovereign wealth funds at $164 billion, while central bank reserves rose to $530 billion in 2025 from $480 billion the previous year.
Unveiled at the The Africa We Build Summit in Nairobi and co-hosted by AFC and Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto, the report underscored a turning point in how Africa finances its growth, even as significant challenges persist in channeling capital into large-scale infrastructure and industrial projects.
Advertisement
300x250
“Africa is not capital-poor—it is capital-rich but system-poor.The constraint is no longer capital—it is intermediation. We have the savings, but not yet the systems to channel them into infrastructure and industry at scale,” said AFC President and Chief Executive Officer, Samaila Zubairu.
The findings come against the backdrop of declining traditional external financing. Official development assistance fell from $83.8 billion in 2020 to $73.5 billion in 2023 and is expected to decline further through 2026. Sovereign debt issuance has also dropped sharply—from more than $29 billion in 2018 to between $4 billion and $6 billion annually in 2022 and 2023—recovering only modestly in recent years. Foreign direct investment has remained largely stagnant at between $45 billion and $55 billion annually.
The report further noted a shift in reserve composition, with gold now accounting for about 17 per cent of Africa’s reserves, up from less than 10 per cent a few years ago. Physical gold holdings increased from 663 tonnes in 2022 to an estimated 738 tonnes in 2025, reflecting a broader diversification trend amid global economic uncertainty.
However, much of Africa’s domestic savings remain tied up in short-term, low-risk instruments such as government securities. According to the report, this reflects regulatory frameworks that prioritise liquidity, weak project pipelines, and limited risk-sharing mechanisms.
SAIR 2026 argued that the continent’s biggest opportunity lies in deploying capital into integrated infrastructure systems that connect energy, transport, industry and digital networks into cohesive, demand-driven ecosystems.
Advertisement
300x250
Aviation is identified as a fast-growing integration lever, contributing a combined $5.5 billion to GDP across Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia while supporting about one million jobs.
Read Also:NICASA urges Nigerians in South Africa to stay vigilant ahead of anti-foreigner protests
In the energy sector, the report advocated moving beyond incremental capacity expansion toward integrated systems combining generation, transmission, storage and industrial demand. It cites cross-border initiatives such as the Ethiopia–Kenya interconnector as examples of how regional infrastructure can enhance efficiency and reliability.
Recent global shocks, including the Russia–Ukraine conflict and the 2026 Gulf crisis, according to it, has exposed vulnerabilities in Africa’s fragmented supply chains. it added that the continent still imports more than 70 per cent of its refined fuel and faces an estimated $230 billion annual import bill for essential goods such as fuel, food, fertiliser, plastics and steel.
In digital infrastructure, while connectivity has improved significantly, the report identified a “missing middle” in backbone networks, metro fibre, data centres and enterprise platforms needed to translate access into productivity and job creation.
Zubairu emphasised that unlocking Africa’s next phase of growth will depend less on mobilising new capital and more on strengthening institutions and investment frameworks.
