Background
Africa’s ambition for economic transformation hinges on expanding its industrial base, deepening value addition, and boosting participation in global and intra-African trade. While national and regional strategies for industrialization exist, their implementation is constrained by a persistent disconnect between available development finance and the financing needs of transformative industrial growth. A significant portion of external capital remains short-term, risk-averse, or concentrated in social sectors, with limited investment in manufacturing, trade-enabling infrastructure, and technology ecosystems.
FDI remains skewed towards extractives, offering limited spillovers to the wider economy. Manufacturing contributes only around 3.5% of Africa’s GDP, underscoring the need for a strategic shift in how finance is mobilized and deployed.
Objectives
This high-level roundtable will:
- Identify gaps between existing development finance flows and Africa’s industrialization and trade priorities.
- Explore mechanisms for aligning finance with value addition, export competitiveness, and regional integration.
- Share practical experiences and innovations from African countries and institutions.
- Propose actionable steps to mobilize catalytic capital for industrial and trade infrastructure.
