Home Features Africa’s Infrastructure Financing Gap Gets Private Credit Bridge
Author: Tawanda Karombo | Photos: Shutterstock
With bank lending slowing, private credit is stepping in to fund Africa’s infrastructure deficit.
This article appears in the October issue of Global Finance Magazine.
Nascent private credit inflows are helping African countries and the private sector to plug infrastructure financing gaps, with energy, logistics and digital connectivity projects such as telecoms and fiber-optic internet attracting financing from this category of debt capital.
Africa’s infrastructure bottlenecks deter investors while national budgets often overlook key infrastructure funding requirements. The Southern Africa Venture Capital Association’s 2025 report notes that “private credit and infrastructure are gaining traction” across Africa in response to the region’s evolving capital needs and development priorities.
This comes at a time when development financiers and traditional lenders such as banks are increasingly throttling capital flows. Private credit is also emerging as the “most favoured strategy” for African private equity firms seeking investment diversification, the SAVCA report noted.
With a large mismatch in Africa’s infrastructure financing needs and capabilities, the burden and opportunities related to financing infrastructure development in Africa have clearly fallen on private credit investors.
“We are in exciting times for private credit in Africa. As the African continent’s financing needs continue to grow, private credit is playing an increasingly important role in providing capital to midsized corporates and supporting critical infrastructure development,” Sanaa Tabani, Standard Chartered Bank’s head of Loan Syndicate for Africa, told Global Finance in an interview.
In its 2026 State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report , the Africa Finance Corp. observed that the more than $1 trillion in assets held by nonbanking private capital institutions such as pension and insurance funds could be used as private capital to boost infrastructure development.
Standard Chartered was, however, “seeing rising investor interest in African debt opportunities, driven by growing needs” for infrastructure development.
Private credit is not just flowing into critical infrastructure needs such as power, rail, ports and housing but is also providing crucial financing cover for corporate infrastructure requirements.
For example, Ninety One announced the final close for its Africa Credit Opportunities Fund 3, which raised $404 million.
Earlier, the IFC announced a $20 million investment into the Africa50 Infrastructure Acceleration Fund to finance digital infrastructure, renewable power and energy, transportation, logistics and water as well as sanitation projects across the continent.
This year’s round added to the fund’s first close that secured $222.5 million in commitments from investors that include 16 institutional financiers.
For Alain Ebobissé, CEO of Africa50 Group, the attractiveness of Africa infrastructure funds to private credit financiers reflects strong support from African institutional investors.
“This achievement is a testament to the increasing role that African institutional investors are playing in financing the real economy and unlocking Africa’s potential. The Africa50 Group plans to mobilize further private sector capital from Africa and globally into African infrastructure,” he said.
Ninety One shares the…