The high-level panel, titled “Innovative Finance Instruments Powering Africa’s Sustainable Transformation,” served as a clear call to action for adopting new approaches beyond conventional funding models
RABAT, Morocco – Senior policymakers, investors, and development finance leaders converged at the 2025 Africa Investment Forum Market Days on Thursday to tackle one of the continent’s most pressing challenges: unlocking the capital required to meet surging infrastructure and climate demands.
The high-level panel, titled “Innovative Finance Instruments Powering Africa’s Sustainable Transformation,” served as a clear call to action for adopting new approaches beyond conventional funding models and into a new era of investment.
Moderated by Boston Consulting Group’s Partner and Managing Director, Zineb Sqalli, the session opened with a stark assessment: By 2050, Africa will add one billion people, more than half in cities, yet it invests only $75 billion of the $150 billion it needs annually for infrastructure.
The climate-finance gap is even wider, with the continent receiving just $30 billion of the $300 billion required each year. “This gap is massive, but it is also a great opportunity,” Sqalli said, highlighting the growth of blended finance, Islamic green bonds, diaspora vehicles and new infrastructure platforms.
Setting a determined tone, Dr Obaid Saif Hamad Al-Zaabi, Chairman of the Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development, called for a fundamental shift in how food systems are financed.
With climate pressures and food insecurity rising across Africa and the Arab world, he called for treating the food-security value chain as a strategic asset class. “Climate change is no longer an environmental issue — it is a financial risk on our balance sheets,” he warned.
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