Moves – Big and Small in African Infrastructure (Minus Energy) – Q2 2025
This update continues our quarterly series tracking infrastructure policy and financing developments across the African continent. While not intended to be exhaustive, these updates aim to spotlight meaningful progress, underscore African agency, and acknowledge the sustained efforts to build the infrastructure backbone essential for economic growth. Going forward, updates will be split into two distinct tracks — one focused exclusively on energy and the other on all remaining sectors of infrastructure.
On May 29th, the African Development Bank appointed Sidi Ould Tah as its ninth President. As this Substack has previously noted, the global landscape has shifted dramatically in just the past six months. Mr. Tah assumes leadership at a precarious time, with the very real possibility that the United States could opt out of the upcoming replenishment of the African Development Fund — potentially leaving a gap exceeding $500 million, on top of already substantial unmet needs. His deep ties to the Middle East and demonstrated ability to raise capital beyond traditional partners were key strengths in his candidacy. We wish him and his incoming team every success as they take on this critical mandate.
The African Development Bank remains the continent’s largest domestic financier of infrastructure, yet the annual infrastructure financing shortfall still surpasses $100 billion. This gap is a fundamental reason why African economies continue to lag on many key development indicators. At The Africa Project, our focus remains squarely on infrastructure — its financing, construction, maintenance, and connection to productive sectors of the economy. But even that framing risks oversimplifying the realities of a diverse continent, where local contexts shape both the challenges and the solutions.
Q2 Moves in Infrastructure –
1. Kenya will terminate a 1.3-billion euro highway expansion deal with a consortium led by France's Vinci SA (SGEF.PA), opens new tab with the project expected to go to a Chinese contractor instead, government officials and sources said.
The deal to turn 140 km (87 miles) of single-lane road into a multilane highway linking the capital Nairobi to the Rift Valley city of Nakuru was signed in Paris in 2020 during a visit by then-President Uhuru Kenyatta.
2. The Bright Side: Morocco 'water highway' saves cities from thirst:
Morocco has invested $728 million in a "water highway" project that redirects excess water from the Sebou River to supply drinking water to Rabat and Casablanca. The country plans to expand the project by tapping additional northern rivers to eventually reach Marrakesh.
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20250330-%F0%9F%8C%9F-the-bright-side-morocco-water-highway-saves-cities-from-thirst
3. MTN Group and Airtel Africa have struck a deal to share mobile phone network infrastructure in Uganda and Nigeria, they said on Wednesday, aiming to save on investments while still increasing service coverage.
Mobile operators in Africa are seeing sustained demand for digital and financial services, but building and maintaining networks are expensive, especially for fast 5G connections.
4. Morocco (has been on a tear building new infrastructure) plans to invest 15 billion dirhams ($1.55 billion) to build a new terminal at its largest airport, Casablanca, to triple passenger numbers by the time Morocco co-hosts the 2030 soccer World Cup, its airports authority https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/morocco-plans-15-billion-expansion-casablanca-airport-ahead-2030-world-cup-2025-03-20/?taid=67dc42a25b3aba0001532ae0
5. Nigeria's pension fund regulator wants to diversify investments with more focus on infrastructure and private equity, a spokesperson said on Friday, a move that could unlock a major new source of capital in Africa's most populous nation.
The voluntary and privately managed Retirement Savings Account held assets of 23.26 trillion naira ($14.58 billion) as of February, with 60% of that invested in government debt and less than 10% in corporate securities. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigerias-pension-fund-seeks-diversify-with-focus-infrastructure-2025-04-11/
6. South Africa plans to open its first overseas office for its infrastructure development agency in the Middle East, aiming to tap into the region’s deep-pocketed investors to fund energy, water and logistics projects.
7. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has invested USD 100 million in sub-Saharan data centre company Raxio Group, its largest digital infrastructure investment to date, in a step to develop technological infrastructure across the region. With the financial injection, the company aims to accelerate the expansion of its facilities focusing on cloud computing, AI and digital financial services. The investment is set to help Raxio double the deployment of its Tier III colocation data centres over the next three years and grow its footprint as a regional data centre platform across countries including Tanzania, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Angola and the Côte d’Ivoire https://www.africanlawbusiness.com/news/ifc-invests-usd-100-million-in-sub-saharan-data-centre-platform/
8. “Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has secured a 250 million euro, which is about $289.2 million, 10-year term loan from Italy’s Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), the country’s development finance institution. The announcement was made on Friday, June 20, 2025. The funding will support infrastructure and renewable energy projects, with a specific focus on the Lobito Corridor railway.”
“In the cause of the people - ‘la luta continua’
Thanks for bringing these projects to our attention. We look forward to a time when more resources will go into connecting African countries.