• Morocco and the AfDB stressed that Africa must rely on private capital to finance rising development and infrastructure needs.

• Both leaders called for stronger domestic resources, more precise regulation, and local value creation to attract more private investors.

• The Africa Investment Forum was presented as a platform to link capital and projects as the Africa Markets Day 2025 opens.

At the opening of the 2025 Africa Investment Forum in Rabat, Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance and African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr. Sidi Ould Tah emphasized the central role of private capital in financing Africa’s development. Both leaders stated that public resources are no longer sufficient to meet the continent’s growing investment needs and called for stronger mobilization of domestic and international private investors.

The Moroccan Minister highlighted the country’s objective of raising the share of private investment to two-thirds of total national investment by 2035. She said the vision is based on strengthening macroeconomic stability, improving regulatory clarity, modernizing administration, and creating conditions that offer “predictability, productivity, and competitiveness.” According to her statement, “private investment is the key to employment, innovation, and competitiveness.”

She reiterated Morocco’s commitment to preparing the ground for investors by consolidating institutions, ensuring financial stability, strengthening transparency, and fostering a culture of excellence. She noted that African countries must modernize regulatory frameworks, mobilize domestic resources, support small and medium-sized enterprises, and commit to major transitions in energy, digitalization, logistics, agriculture, and the environment. The Minister added that Africa’s development will rely on “the creation of new value chains, technological clusters, industrial ecosystems, and regional hubs.”

Dr. Sidi Ould Tah said the AfDB is pursuing a four-point strategy, which includes massive capital mobilization to finance development, a new financial architecture linking regional, continental, and international institutions, economic transformation with a focus on human capital, and investment in resilient infrastructure. He stated that Africa will represent 25 percent of the world’s population by 2050 and will have a labor force larger than that of China and India combined. He said transforming this demographic growth into an economic asset will require large-scale investment in infrastructure and local value creation.

The AfDB President said the continent faces a persistent financing gap despite significant opportunities. He called for coordinated action among investors, central banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurers, and stock exchanges. He emphasized the need to leverage domestic savings, attract private investors, and expand the use of guarantees and risk-mitigation instruments. “We have to increase the mobilization of domestic and international resources and turn to innovative instruments,” he said.

Both speakers highlighted the importance of transforming Africa’s raw materials locally to boost value addition and create jobs. They also called for increased investment in energy, logistics, water systems, and digital infrastructure. Dr. Sidi Ould Tah said the AfDB will prioritize entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, STEM skills, and the formalization of the informal economy.

The Moroccan Minister and AfDB President both described the Africa Investment Forum as a platform focused on action, transactions, and concrete partnerships. Dr. Ould Tah said the Forum is “bridging the gaps that exist between the public and private sector, between capital and projects, and between ambitions and achievements.”

Idriss Linge