The African Development Bank said billions of dollars worth of investment commitments were made at its premier dealmaking forum in Rabat.
This year's Africa Investment Forum (AIF) Market Days, held in Rabat in November, secured $15.3bn in investor commitments across 39 bankable projects.
While this marks a sharp contraction from the $29.5bn in investor pledges announced in 2024, organisers said that the share of investment‑ready projects presented in boardrooms had increased from 81% to 95%.
The event drew participants from nearly 80 countries. Over three days, more than 2,000 delegates - representing private capital providers, international investment and commercial banks, multilateral development finance institutions, entrepreneurs and government representatives - explored project structuring, mobilising capital and women's access to finance, among other topics.
"The conclusion of the Africa Investment Forum's 2025 Market Days marks a new beginning, full of optimism, for the future of our continent," Tah said during the closing ceremony.
Projects pitched to investorsRoughly two‑thirds of the transactions proposed at this year's Africa Investment Forum focused on the energy and transport sectors, with many projects purposely designed to address the continent's acute climate finance needs.
The boardrooms, which are closed‑door sessions where vetted projects are pitched to investors, featured 41 projects, 39 of which were fully investment-ready or "bankable" - meaning backed by sufficient environmental and social studies as well as robust financial models.
Created in 2018 by the AfDB, Africa Finance Corporation, Afreximbank, Africa50, Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), Trade and Development Bank (TDB), and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), AIF is a platform that connects investors and project developers. It provides a framework for supporting projects until they reach bankability and financial closure.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) used the event to launch a new annual dashboard to monitor project progress. President Sidi Ould Tah, presiding over his first Africa Investment Forum, said the monitoring tool would accelerate execution by ensuring that commitments secured during AIF translate into disbursements, implementation, and targeted development outcomes. The goal of this dashboard, he told delegates during the three-day forum's closing ceremony, is to strengthen accountability and boost confidence in the AIF process by turning pledges into tangible on-the-ground results.
Mauritania among the dealsThe European Investment Bank (EIB Global) and the AfDB signed a joint financing package of $275m to modernise Mauritania's main railway corridor linking the iron ore mining hub of Zouerate to the Atlantic port of Nouadhibou.
The investment includes loans of $150m from the AfDB and $125m from EIB Global, guaranteed by the European Union. Both operations are private sector, non-sovereign financings provided directly to the Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière (SNIM), which is Mauritania's largest formal employer.
"This financing marks an important milestone for Mauritania and for the African Development Bank. By supporting SNIM through a corporate, non-sovereign loan, we are demonstrating our determination to scale up private sector investment in strategic value chains. Modernising this railway will unlock new opportunities for industry, strengthen Mauritania's role in regional trade, and accelerate the country's transition toward more sustainable and competitive growth," Tah said during the signing ceremony.
Ethiopia's seeks airport backing gets backingBishoftu Airport Expansion in Ethiopia, advanced by Ethiopian Airlines for aviation growth, was among the projects attempting to gain support at the AIF. The greenfield project, envisioned as a continental aviation hub set to serve Ethiopia and the broader African region, is located about 40 km southwest of Addis Ababa. The new airport is designed to ease growing capacity constraints due to capacity traffic at the existing Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.
The airport will be built in two phases: the first phase, with 60 million passengers per year, is expected to cost $8.6bn, while the second phase expansion to 100 million passengers per year will see project costs reach $12.5bn.
Ethiopian Airlines is steering the initiative with support from the AfDB as the appointed initial mandated lead arranger (IMLA). In early October the United States announced it would be helping to finance the construction of the new airport through the US Development Finance Corporation, its development finance institution. Ethiopian Airlines Mesfin Tasew Bekele told journalists in Rabat that a Chinese bank - without naming the bank - has also pledged $500m for the project.