Africa needs more than US$400 billion a year to finance its development and must mobilise its own capital more effectively alongside private and international partners, the new president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Sidi Ould Tah, said on Thursday.
Speaking in Abidjan at the bank’s annual diplomatic luncheon, Ould Tah outlined a reform and financing agenda centred on large-scale resource mobilisation, reform of Africa’s financial architecture, job creation and infrastructure development.
The Mauritanian national, who became the AfDB’s ninth president on Sept. 1, 2025 after winning the election in May, said the global environment was “among the most complex and turbulent” Africa has faced, heightening the urgency of closing the continent’s development financing gap.
“It is estimated that the African continent would need more than $400 billion every year to finance its development,” he said, adding that AfDB’s balance sheet alone was insufficient to meet those needs.
The meeting, held at the Sofitel Hôtel Ivoire, was attended by members of the diplomatic corps accredited to Côte d’Ivoire, including ambassadors and representatives of international organisations. Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Nialé Kaba, was also present.
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Ould Tah said the strong turnout reflected the importance of sustained dialogue with Africa’s development partners as the bank begins implementing its new mandate.
At the core of his strategy, he said, is the mobilisation of financing at scale by combining traditional development partners, private sector capital and African resources.
Drawing on his previous experience as head of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, Ould Tah said he intended to deepen cooperation with Arab and other partners to expand AfDB’s lending capacity and crowd in additional investment.
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A second priority is reforming Africa’s financial architecture to improve the allocation of existing resources. Ould Tah said Africa was not short of capital, noting that African sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and institutional investors manage at least US$1 trillion, much of which is invested in assets with limited development impact on the continent.
“Africa does not lack resources,” he said, arguing that weak coordination and fragmentation across financial institutions had prevented capital from being channelled into productive sectors.
He proposed a three-tier structure linking continental, regional and national financial institutions, with the AfDB playing a coordinating role. Discussions have already begun with African development banks and sovereign funds, and would soon extend to central banks, he said.
The remaining pillars of the agenda focus on Africa’s long-term structural transformation, with demographics and employment at the centre.
Ould Tah noted that Africa is the world’s youngest continent, with a median age of 19, and warned that failure to create jobs at scale could undermine economic and social stability.
“It is essential to develop transformative activities that can create millions of jobs,” he said, calling for stronger small and medium-sized enterprises, gradual formalisation of the informal economy and education reforms focused on technical and vocational training.
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He said infrastructure development would be critical to supporting this transformation, enabling local value addition, expanding tax bases and anchoring sustainable growth.
In closing, Ould Tah reaffirmed his commitment to strengthening partnerships with both regional and non-regional shareholders, saying Africa must not only attract investment but also offer viable opportunities to the private sectors of its partners.
“Africa needs to invest, but it also needs to offer investment opportunities,” he said, describing this approach as the foundation for shared and sustainable prosperity.
Background to the African Development Bank
The African Development Bank (AfDB) is Africa’s premier multilateral development finance institution, mandated to promote sustainable economic development and social progress across the continent.
The bank was established in 1964 and is headquartered in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, after returning in 2014 from a temporary relocation to Tunis during Côte d’Ivoire’s political crisis. It is owned by 81 member countries, comprising 54 African regional member states and 27 non-regional members, including the United States, China, Japan and several European countries.
AfDB mobilises resources to finance development projects and policy reforms in African countries, focusing on infrastructure, energy, transport, agriculture, water and sanitation, health, education and private sector development. It also provides policy advice, technical assistance and support for economic reforms.
The bank operates through three main windows:
– the African Development Bank, which lends on near-market terms to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries;
– the African Development Fund (ADF), which provides concessional loans and grants to the poorest countries;
– the Nigeria Trust Fund, a special facility established in 1976 to support low-income regional members.
Under its current strategic framework, AfDB prioritises five core development goals known as the “High 5s”: light up and power Africa, feed Africa, industrialise Africa, integrate Africa and improve the quality of life for Africans. The bank says these priorities are aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The AfDB raises funds through capital markets, including global bond issuances, and leverages its AAA credit rating to borrow at relatively low cost. It also mobilises co-financing from development partners, private investors and climate finance institutions.
In recent years, the bank has expanded its role in climate finance, energy transition, food security and crisis response, including support for countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, climate shocks and rising debt vulnerabilities.
The AfDB is governed by a Board of Governors, typically finance ministers or central bank governors of member countries, and a Board of Directors responsible for operational oversight. Its president is elected for a five-year term, renewable once.
