Africa Prosperity Network Unveils Bold Infrastructure Funding Vision Through Groundbreaking Webinar

The Africa Prosperity Network (APN), in partnership with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, hosted a landmark post-APD 2025 webinar on Wednesday to address how the continent can sustainably fund and develop critical infrastructure.

The virtual roundtable, titled “The Africa We Want: How Should Africa Fund and Build the Infrastructure for Trade, People Movement and Prosperity?”, brought together leading voices from finance, development, logistics, technology, and government. Moderated by Nana Yaa Mensah and Kojo Mensah of Asaase Radio, the event explored transformative solutions to Africa’s long-standing infrastructure challenges.

APN CEO Sidig Eltoum opened the session by emphasizing the urgency of bridging Africa’s infrastructure gap, citing fragmented transport systems, unreliable energy, and poor digital connectivity as key obstacles to prosperity. "Infrastructure is not just a commercial opportunity—it’s a path to Africa’s long-term development," he said.

AfCFTA Secretariat Chief of Staff Rui Pedro Afonso Livramento echoed this urgency, calling for immediate action. "We must move from plans to implementation. The time to build infrastructure is now."

One of the major highlights of the session was the unveiling of the “One Dollar A Day” initiative—an innovative crowdfunding campaign aimed at democratizing infrastructure investment across the continent. Spearheaded by finance expert Eric Otoo, the initiative targets both institutional and public contributions, with a social arm engaging individuals and diaspora communities.

"The One Dollar A Day campaign is both symbolic and practical. It invites Africans and our global diaspora to be part of the solution," said Otoo. "We have started. The time to act is now."

Participants also addressed the impact of colonial-era infrastructure built for resource extraction, which continues to undermine Africa’s internal trade flows. With intra-African trade still lagging behind at just 30-40%, costly logistics and disconnected road and rail systems remain key barriers.

World Bank projections suggest that fully realizing AfCFTA’s potential could raise Africa’s income by $450 billion by 2035 and lift 30 million people out of poverty. But this will require closing the current annual infrastructure financing gap of $130–170 billion.

The webinar featured powerful insights from industry leaders such as Afreximbank’s Emeka Uzomba, who revealed the bank's $5 billion infrastructure fund for integration corridor projects. Uzomba also proposed infrastructure bonds with 8–10% returns, a continental credit rating system to de-risk investments, and blended finance models that reduce government exposure.

Ghana’s James Amoo-Gottfried shared the country’s successful Road Fund model, combining fuel levies, toll revenues, and digital road tolling to fund public projects. Business leader Pierre Coussey reinforced the need for profitability to attract investors. "Infrastructure must not only serve development—it must deliver returns."

Addressing the issue of mobility, travel, and border constraints, Gideon Asare of Adansi Travels presented sobering data showing that only 25% of intra-African air routes are directly served, and that visa processes and fragmented transport networks continue to drive up costs. "We must reimagine borders not as barriers, but as bridges," said Borderless Alliance President Ziad Hamoui.

The event built on the Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2025 and the resulting Accra Compact 2025, a commitment framework aligning governments, the private sector, and multilateral institutions on infrastructure priorities. The Compact supports public-private partnerships in key corridors such as Lagos–Abidjan and the Lobito Corridor, and outlines efforts by institutions like AfDB and Africa50 to mobilize up to $2 trillion in domestic capital.

Tshegofatso Motaung, founder of CedarLeb, emphasized how small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) stand to benefit from upgraded infrastructure, while Microsoft’s Serwaa Agyemang-Botchey encouraged starting small and scaling intentionally.

With population growth surging—28 African countries have doubled in size over the past three decades and 26 more are set to do the same—Africa's infrastructure needs are becoming increasingly urgent. The AfCFTA, now the largest single market in the world by population, represents both a challenge and an opportunity.

As the webinar concluded, participants agreed on one thing: building the Africa we want will require bold vision, unified effort, and immediate action.