Bloomberg and African Development Bank Launch Strategic Partnership to Unlock $100 Billion in Private Investment for Africa

In a landmark move that could reshape Africa’s economic development trajectory, Michael Bloomberg and the African Development Bank Group have announced a groundbreaking partnership designed to mobilize unprecedented levels of private sector investment across the African continent. The strategic alliance was unveiled during the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Forum held alongside the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York, marking a pivotal moment in international development cooperation.

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Strategic Partnership Framework

The partnership between Bloomberg L.P., Bloomberg Philanthropies, and the African Development Bank represents a bold initiative to address Africa’s acute investment deficit by leveraging the combined expertise of one of the world’s leading financial information networks and Africa’s premier multilateral development institution. Under the agreement, the two organizations will work together to convene major private financial institutions with the African Development Bank to mobilize significantly greater flows of private capital for Africa’s growth and resilience.

Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies and Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), emphasized the continent’s vast potential: “Africa has enormous opportunities for economic growth and innovation, and this new partnership with the African Development Bank will help to unlock more of it by reducing barriers to private investment.”

Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, who recently assumed leadership of the African Development Bank earlier this month, highlighted the transformative nature of the collaboration: “Today we took a decisive step—embarking on a new journey of partnerships and collective action. Together we will consolidate our strengths for mobilizing private sector resources and unleashing investments at scale for Africa’s development.”

Africa’s Massive Investment Gap

The partnership comes at a critical juncture for African development. According to the African Development Bank’s 2025 African Economic Outlook report, Africa needs more than $1.3 trillion to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and requires between $68 billion to $108 billion annually for infrastructure financing alone. These staggering figures underscore the magnitude of the challenge facing the continent as it seeks to accelerate economic transformation and improve living standards for its rapidly growing population.

The infrastructure financing gap represents a particularly acute challenge, with transport infrastructure accounting for 72.9% of the gap, followed by education at 10.4%, energy at 9.9%, and productivity-enhancing technologies at 6.8%. These figures reflect decades of underinvestment in critical areas essential for sustainable development and economic growth.

Current infrastructure investment as a share of GDP in Africa has remained stagnant at approximately 3.5% since 2000, significantly below the estimated 4.5% required to close existing gaps. For comparison, China invests about 7.7% of its GDP in infrastructure, while India allocates 5.2%. This disparity highlights the urgent need for innovative financing mechanisms to bridge the investment deficit.

Mission 300: Powering Africa’s Future

A central component of the partnership’s immediate focus is support for Mission 300, an ambitious initiative led by the World Bank Group and African Development Bank to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030. During the Bloomberg Philanthropies Global Forum, 17 African governments committed to concrete plans and reforms to expand electricity access through National Energy Compacts.

The participating countries—Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, the Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, São Tomé and Principe, Sierra Leone, and Togo—signed practical blueprints that will guide public spending, trigger essential reforms, and attract private capital investment.

World Bank Group President Ajay Banga underscored the significance of the initiative: “Electricity is the bedrock of jobs, opportunity, and economic growth. That’s why Mission 300 is more than a target—it is forging enduring reforms that slash costs, strengthen utilities, and draw in private investment.”

The energy access challenge is particularly stark, with nearly 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa currently lacking access to electricity. This energy poverty represents a fundamental barrier to economic development, limiting opportunities for education, healthcare, and productive economic activities.

Innovative Financing Solutions

The Bloomberg-African Development Bank partnership will focus on developing and implementing innovative financing mechanisms designed to attract institutional investors who have historically been reluctant to invest in African projects due to perceived risks. The collaboration will leverage Bloomberg’s extensive network and market expertise alongside the African Development Bank’s deep understanding of African markets and development priorities.

One key initiative will involve the Africa Investment Forum, founded by the African Development Bank Group and eight other partners, which aims to close Africa’s investment gap by accelerating project development and offering a curated platform for investors to connect, engage, and finalize deals. The forum’s goal is to make Africa a premier global investment destination by driving high-impact projects that generate measurable development outcomes.

The partnership will also explore ways to enhance the African Development Bank’s mobilization toolkit and investment opportunities, collect feedback from private sector partners, and identify financial and policy innovations that can enhance investor participation. This approach recognizes that traditional development financing models must evolve to meet the scale of investment required for sustainable development.

Private Capital Mobilization Strategy

Central to the partnership’s success will be its ability to demonstrate that African infrastructure projects can generate commercially attractive returns while delivering significant development impact. The collaboration will work to address several key barriers that have historically limited private investment in African infrastructure, including currency risk, regulatory uncertainty, and the perceived complexity of operating in diverse African markets.

According to analysis from the Africa Finance Corporation, Africa is not lacking in capital, with over $4 trillion in domestic resources available, including commercial bank assets, pension funds, remittances, and sovereign wealth funds. However, the continent has struggled to fully leverage these existing resources effectively.

The partnership will focus on creating investment vehicles and structures that can channel both international and domestic capital toward productive infrastructure and development projects. This includes working with pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds to allocate more resources to African infrastructure investments.

Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero Integration

The partnership will be implemented through the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), leveraging Bloomberg’s role as Chair to coordinate with global financial institutions committed to net-zero emissions. This integration ensures that investment flows will support not only economic development but also Africa’s transition to sustainable, low-carbon growth patterns.

Mary Schapiro, Vice Chair of GFANZ and Head of the GFANZ Secretariat, emphasized the critical importance of the initiative: “Mobilizing private capital at scale is essential to unlocking Africa’s full potential for sustainable growth and resilience. This partnership will help connect African investment opportunities with the capital, tools, and innovation needed to bring them to life.”

The climate finance dimension is particularly significant, given that Africa requires approximately $213.4 billion annually through 2030 to meet its climate financing needs. The continent faces the dual challenge of adapting to climate change impacts while simultaneously pursuing economic development objectives.

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Regional Focus and Implementation Strategy

The partnership will target investment across multiple sectors and regions, with particular attention to areas where private capital can have the greatest development impact. Priority sectors include renewable energy, transportation infrastructure, digital connectivity, water and sanitation, and agricultural value chains.

In the energy sector, the partnership will support Africa’s vast renewable energy potential. The continent possesses significant reserves of minerals vital for global decarbonization and has substantial solar, wind, and hydroelectric resources that remain largely untapped. Countries like Morocco have already demonstrated the potential for large-scale renewable energy projects through initiatives like the NOOR Solar Complex in Ouarzazate.

The transportation sector represents another critical focus area, given Africa’s infrastructure deficit in this domain. The continent’s median road density of about 12 km per 100 km² compares unfavorably with 42.5 km in high-performing developing countries and 136 km in high-income countries. Only about 27% of African roads are paved, significantly below the global average of 49%.

Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer

Beyond capital mobilization, the partnership will emphasize capacity building and knowledge transfer to enhance the continent’s ability to design, implement, and manage large-scale infrastructure projects. This includes supporting government agencies in developing bankable project proposals, strengthening regulatory frameworks, and building institutional capacity for project oversight.

The collaboration recognizes that successful infrastructure development requires more than just financial resources. It demands robust institutional frameworks, transparent governance structures, and strong project management capabilities. The partnership will work to address these systemic challenges through targeted technical assistance and capacity-building initiatives.

Historical Context and Previous Collaboration

The current partnership builds on a long history of collaboration between Bloomberg and the African Development Bank. In 2015, the two organizations collaborated on the launch of the AFMISM Bloomberg® African Bond Index through the African Financial Markets Initiative (AFMI), demonstrating their shared commitment to developing African financial markets.

This previous collaboration established important precedents for how Bloomberg’s financial market expertise can complement the African Development Bank’s development mandate to create innovative solutions for African capital markets.

Leadership and Vision

Dr. Sidi Ould Tah’s leadership of the African Development Bank brings fresh energy and vision to the institution’s development agenda. Since assuming leadership earlier this month, he has identified “transforming population growth into an economic engine for job creation, particularly for women and youth” as one of his four cardinal priority areas.

This focus on job creation aligns perfectly with the partnership’s objectives, as infrastructure investments have significant employment-generating potential. According to World Bank estimates, every $1 billion invested in infrastructure can create between 110,000 and 150,000 jobs, highlighting the direct linkage between infrastructure investment and employment opportunities.

Bloomberg’s involvement brings global financial markets expertise and extensive networks of institutional investors who have the capital available for long-term infrastructure investments. The combination of Bloomberg’s market knowledge and the African Development Bank’s development expertise creates a powerful platform for addressing Africa’s investment challenges.

Expected Outcomes and Impact

In the coming months, the partnership will focus on several key deliverables designed to translate the strategic vision into concrete actions and results. These include raising investor awareness of the African Development Bank’s mobilization toolkit and investment opportunities, collecting and incorporating feedback from private sector partners, and exploring new ways the African Development Bank Group can catalyze greater private capital flows into Africa’s growing investment opportunities.

The initiative will also work to identify and support the implementation of financial and policy innovations that can enhance investor participation in African development projects. This includes developing risk mitigation instruments, creating standardized project documentation, and establishing clear regulatory frameworks that provide certainty for investors.

Success will be measured not only by the volume of capital mobilized but also by the development impact achieved, including job creation, improved access to essential services, and progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The partnership’s ultimate goal is to demonstrate that Africa represents one of the world’s most attractive investment destinations for patient capital seeking both financial returns and development impact.

Future Prospects and Scaling Potential

The Bloomberg-African Development Bank partnership represents a new model for development cooperation that could be replicated and scaled across other regions and sectors. By demonstrating that innovative public-private partnerships can effectively mobilize private capital for development objectives, the initiative could inspire similar collaborations worldwide.

The partnership’s success will depend on its ability to navigate complex political, economic, and social challenges while maintaining focus on delivering tangible results for African communities. This requires sustained commitment from both partners and the broader international development community.

As Africa stands at a critical juncture in its development trajectory, with a rapidly growing population and increasing urbanization creating both opportunities and challenges, partnerships like this one between Bloomberg and the African Development Bank offer hope for unlocking the continent’s vast potential. Through innovative financing, strategic partnerships, and sustained commitment to development outcomes, Africa can transform from a recipient of development assistance to a driver of global economic growth and innovation.

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By: Montel Kamau

Serrari Financial Analyst

26th September, 2025