• African finance officials and investors said the continent faces an annual $130 billion funding gap for infrastructure and must better mobilize $4 trillion in underutilized institutional savings.

• Regional securitization markets have raised CFA1.87 trillion  ($3 billion) since 2016, but this accounts for just 2% of BRVM’s market capitalization.

• Speakers urged more innovation in structured finance, tapping assets like public real estate, agricultural land and pension funds, while expanding green bonds and SME financing.

Dakar hosted the first edition of the Structured Finance Africa Forum on Sept. 25, organized by Invictus Capital & Finance. Ministers, regulators, bankers and investors agreed that Africa must scale up structured finance to close its chronic infrastructure gap and accelerate economic transformation.

Triple Urgency

Senegalese Finance Minister Cheikh Diba said Africa must close an annual infrastructure gap of more than $100 billion, refinance public debt sustainably and expand credit access for businesses.

“Financing needs continue to grow even as fiscal space narrows,” he warned, calling for “solutions adapted to African realities.”

$4 Trillion in Untapped Savings

Badanam Patoki, president of AMF-UMOA, put Africa’s overall financing needs at $130 billion per year. He said institutional investors hold $4 trillion in pension and sovereign wealth funds that remain largely untapped.

He highlighted Islamic finance as a rising tool, noting that before a 2022 regulatory framework was even adopted, it had already mobilized CFA1.4 trillion ($2.3 billion), or 7.5% of funds raised since 1990.

“The regulator should not be static but an architect of trust,” he added, urging agility to attract capital.

Global Context

Félix Edoh Kossi Aménounvé, CEO of the West African regional stock exchange BRVM, noted that the global structured finance market grew from $400 billion to $2.5 trillion over the last two decades, dominated by the U.S. and China. Africa, he said, remains marginal despite urgent needs: electricity access below 50%, a 2.5 million housing gap per year and $5 billion needed annually to adapt to climate change.

“The issue is not technique but asset mobilization,” he said, citing public real estate, 600 million hectares of idle farmland, and tax receivables as examples. He also urged stronger roles for insurers and pension funds, warning that delays in reforms risk wasting decades.

Securitization Market

Since 2016, regional securitization has raised CFA1.87 trillion ($3 billion) across 17 issues, with 10 funds now listed on BRVM for a market capitalization of CFA313 billion. This represents just 2% of the exchange’s capitalization.

“We must broaden the asset base and accelerate development of these instruments so they become pillars of long-term finance,” Aménounvé said.

SMEs make up more than 90% of Africa’s economy yet face chronic credit shortages. Diba said governments must offer innovative structured financing tools to the private sector.

On sustainable finance, Patoki noted that over 97% of green bond issuance in Africa comes from Nigeria, Morocco and South Africa, calling it a “missed opportunity.” Aménounvé urged expansion into covered and municipal bonds.

Looking Ahead

Speakers said only a multi-actor approach combining public funds, development guarantees, institutional savings and financial innovation can deliver the scale needed.

“Africa has the potential, the talent and the energy. We must structure them together to create inclusive and sustainable solutions,” Diba said.

“Our continent’s future will depend on our ability to turn financial innovation into concrete tools for sovereignty and shared prosperity,” Patoki concluded.

This article was initially published in French by Fiacre E. Kakpo

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum