African leaders have reaffirmed their ambitions for mineral beneficiation, industrialisation, financial reform, and a greater role in shaping emerging-technology rules at the 81st UN General Assembly. Attention now turns to implementation, with a focus on translating these ambitions into a pipeline of well-structured, finance-ready projects. According to Byron Mutali, a Partner in the Projects & Infrastructure practice group in Kenya, the challenge is to turn these priorities into opportunities that can be realised.
The African Development Bank estimates that Africa requires $181 billion to $221 billion in infrastructure investment each year through 2030. Nearly 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity, while 10–12 million young Africans enter the labour force annually. With more than a third of Sub-Saharan African countries in, or at high risk of, debt distress, much of this investment must come from private and institutional capital.
Agenda 2063, the African Continental Free Trade Area, and national development plans show where Africa wants to go. However, investors also need project-level information to commit capital. Investment follows when ambitions become projects with credible revenues, enforceable contracts, allocated risks, and a clear path to financial close. The positions set out at the 81st UNGA have practical consequences for project finance.
Financial architecture and debt reforms affect the cost and availability of capital, and government's capacity to provide guarantees or payment commitments. Beneficiation requires integrated infrastructure: reliable power, transport, water, ports, and industrial capacity. Standards governing data, AI, cybersecurity, and interoperability will increasingly shape the regulatory environment.
According to Mutali, four factors are critical for bankability: legal and policy alignment, sound risk allocation, project structure, and financial viability. Many projects stall long before construction because the legal groundwork was never laid. Lenders typically require enforceable security over project assets, step-in rights if the project company defaults, and the ability to convert local currency and repatriate returns.
Governments can reinforce this work by regularly publishing project pipelines, standardizing contracts, and assessing how new policies may affect neighbouring sectors. Kenya's electric-mobility transition illustrates the importance of policy coordination: EV incentives need to align with import policy, charging infrastructure, financing, electricity regulation, and the interests of workers connected to today's transport market.
Infrastructure projects run for decades, so contracts must anticipate evolving risks and allocate each to the party best placed to manage or mitigate it, with clear consequences and remedies. Parties should agree on the risk matrix before the term sheet, and address land title and resettlement before financial close. Change-in-law and specified political risks should be allocated explicitly, with the state assuming risks within its control and private parties retaining those they can better manage.
Key points
- The African Development Bank estimates that Africa requires $181 billion to $221 billion in infrastructure investment each year through 2030.
- Four factors are critical for bankability: legal and policy alignment, sound risk allocation, project structure, and financial viability.
- Infrastructure projects run for decades, so contracts must anticipate evolving risks and allocate each to the party best placed to manage or mitigate it.
