The 2025 Africa Investment Forum (AIF) Market Days wrapped up on Friday in Rabat, Morocco, with $15.3 billion in investment interest covering 39 bankable projects, underscoring a growing global appetite for African opportunities.

African Development Bank Group President Sidi Ould Tah announced the outcome at the close of the three-day event. "The conclusion of the Africa Investment Forum's 2025 Market Days marks a new beginning, full of optimism, for the future of our continent," he said.

Under the theme, “Bridging the Gap: Mobilising Private Capital to Unlock Africa’s Full Potential”, this year’s edition drew financial backing from 32 global private-sector organisations—double the number in 2024 – highlighting the Forum’s rising profile as a premier marketplace for investment in Africa.

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.

President Ould Tah said investors responded strongly to the projects tabled in the Forum’s boardrooms because they were supported by social and environmental impact studies and robust financial models. About two-thirds of the proposed transactions targeted the energy and transport sectors.

The Bank’s president unveiled new measures to track how commitments convert into real projects. The AIF will introduce an annual dashboard to monitor project progress and the rate at which investment interest translates into actual investment.

Morocco’s Economy and Finance Minister Nadia Fettah told delegates that the AIF reflects “an Africa that embraces its ambition… that no longer delegates its trust, and an Africa that no longer defines itself by its constraints but by its solutions.  We must mobilise more African capital now to finance our economies with partners who respect our priorities, understand them and support them.”

The event drew participants from nearly 80 countries including Japan which sent almost 100 delegates and served as a major sponsor alongside the African Guarantee Fund, Algest Investment Fund, Ashurst LLP, the European Investment Bank and the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector.

The special highlight of the Forum’s opening plenary was a ministerial dialogue on accelerating private investment through a conducive enabling environment. There were several other high-level sessions focused on attracting investments into Africa.

Created in 2018, the Africa Investment Forum is a multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary platform that connects investors and project developers. It provides a framework for supporting projects until they reach bankability and accelerates the financial closure of transactions. The forum’s founding partners include the African Development Bank Group, Africa Finance Corporation, Afreximbank, Africa50, Development Bank of Southern Africa, Trade and Development Bank, and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA).

Source: AfDB