By Baboloki Semele

The Luanda Infrastructure Financing Summit, set to take place from 28 to 31 October 2025 in Luanda, Angola, is shaping up to be a landmark moment in Africa’s development journey. Hosted by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), the African Union Commission (AUC), and the Government of Angola, this high-level gathering will bring together heads of state, institutional investors, multilateral financiers, and private sector players with one central aim: to close Africa’s chronic infrastructure financing gap and unlock the transformative power of connectivity.

Africa continues to grapple with an annual infrastructure financing shortfall exceeding $100 billion, despite mobilising around $80 billion each year. Held under the theme “Capital, Corridors, Trade: Investing in Infrastructure for the AfCFTA and Shared Prosperity,” the summit seeks to reverse this trend by unlocking regional and global capital to fund priority infrastructure projects aligned with Agenda 2063 and the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).

Building on the momentum of the 2023 Dakar Infrastructure Financing Summit, the 2025 edition is expected to be more ambitious in scope, scale, and strategic focus.

According to a press release from the African Union Commission’s Department of Infrastructure and Energy, President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço of Angola; currently serving as Chairperson of the African Union has made infrastructure a cornerstone of his continental leadership agenda. Speaking at the AU Commission Handover Ceremony in March 2025, he stated, “Infrastructure is one of the essential pillars of the African Union’s Agenda 2063. We must mobilise all available financial resources to achieve our goals—from roads and railways to ports, power lines, and digital networks.”

The Luanda Summit is a direct response to that call. It will spotlight key continental projects and seek tangible financial commitments through curated deal rooms, pitch sessions, and investor roundtables.

Among the flagship initiatives expected to feature prominently are the Lobito Corridor, the LAPSSET Corridor (Lamu Port–South Sudan–Ethiopia Transport), and the Abidjan-Lagos Highway, alongside other strategic routes such as the Dakar–Bamako–Djibouti corridor. These corridors are envisioned not just as transport routes, but as economic arteries—integrating infrastructure, trade, logistics, and industrial development across borders.

A major highlight of the summit will be the Presidential Dialogues, which will convene influential leaders including Kenya’s William Ruto, Nigeria’s Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Congo’s Félix Tshisekedi, and Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema. Their discussions will center on mobilising political will to drive infrastructure implementation and policy harmonisation, particularly in the energy, transport, and customs sectors.

Energy and transport connectivity will dominate the agenda as the continent works toward the realisation of the African Single Electricity Market (AfSEM) by 2040. This is anchored on the $1.3 trillion Continental Power Systems Master Plan (CMP). Currently, at least $16 billion annually is needed to implement cross-border energy and trade infrastructure under PIDA, even as more than 600 million Africans lack access to electricity.

The summit will explore financing models for PIDA Energy Projects and CMP initiatives, aiming to attract co-investment from philanthropic foundations and climate-aligned capital. Guided by the Nairobi Roadmap—a joint framework established by AUDA-NEPAD, the AUC, the African Development Bank, and the Trade and Development Bank—stakeholders will focus on targeted climate finance and regional energy market integration to expand access in underserved regions.

According to Africa Intelligence, a leading think tank on African political and economic developments, the summit is expected to mark a pivotal moment in closing the infrastructure financing gap, currently estimated between $130 billion and $170 billion annually. The think tank notes, “This high-level summit is designed not just as another dialogue platform, but as a catalyst to unlock regional and global capital for Africa’s urgent connectivity needs.”

“There’s a clear political commitment to reverse the infrastructure deficit through long-term strategic partnerships,” Africa Intelligence added. “Luanda will not be a talking shop—it’s a financing workshop.”

It further noted that the summit’s core focus will be the mobilisation of capital both domestic and international towards bankable infrastructure projects that support the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as a critical component in the rollout of Agenda 2063, with emphasis on corridor development, cross-border infrastructure, and technological integration in transport and energy.

“There’s a clear political commitment to reverse the infrastructure deficit through long-term strategic partnerships,” Africa Intelligence reported.

Over 1,000 high-level delegates are expected, including African heads of state and CEOs from major conglomerates such as Dangote Group, MTN, and Sonatrach, along with global financial giants like Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, Macquarie Asset Management, and China Eximbank.

AUDA-NEPAD, led by Nardos Bekele-Thomas, is actively engaging investors, particularly across Africa. The agency is working through the Alliance of Multilateral African Financial Institutions, which was established in February 2024 at an AU summit in partnership with Afreximbank. This alliance, under the leadership of Nigeria’s Samaila Zubairu, CEO of Africa Finance Corporation, has been reaching out to regional financial institutions, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds ahead of the summit.

On the business front, leaders and senior executives from Nigerian conglomerate Dangote Group, Egypt’s Arab Contractors, South Africa’s telecoms giant MTN, and banks such as Ecobank, United Bank for Africa, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, and Nedbank will be in attendance. State companies like Algeria’s Sonatrach and Angola’s Sonangol will also participate. From outside the continent, the World Bank, IMF, and European and U.S. development agencies, as well as private equity funds including Antin Infrastructure Partners, will also be present.

According to the concept note provided by AUDA-NEPAD, the summit aims to mobilise diverse financing, tapping into public, private, domestic, international, and innovative sources to bridge the infrastructure funding gap and support the Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063.

The summit will also address early-stage project preparation and risk mitigation to make African infrastructure projects more bankable and investor-friendly. It will promote the exchange of best practices, highlight digital tools and climate-resilient approaches, and showcase successful public-private partnership models.

Coinciding with the PIDA Mid-Term Review, the summit provides a strategic opportunity to realign policies and project pipelines. AUDA-NEPAD’s Service Delivery Mechanism (SDM) will play a central role in helping convert infrastructure ideas into investment-ready proposals through feasibility studies, transaction structuring, and risk-sharing mechanisms.

Bekele-Thomas is spearheading efforts to redefine infrastructure financing on the continent. Under her leadership, AUDA-NEPAD has championed the mobilisation of over $70 billion in African savings—especially from pension and sovereign wealth funds—into blended finance models, project bonds, and structured public-private partnerships.

Global finance institutions including the World Bank, IMF, China Eximbank, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, along with African industrial powerhouses like Dangote Group, MTN, Arab Contractors, Sonangol, and Sonatrach, will convene in multi-track investment discussions.

As Africa positions itself at the cutting edge of the global digital and AI revolution, the summit will explore how fintech, artificial intelligence, and blockchain can revolutionise infrastructure delivery. Sessions will delve into intelligent transport systems, real-time monitoring tools, and digital platforms for project preparation.

A dedicated technology stream will highlight innovations such as AI-powered maintenance apps and solar-powered logistics platforms—key to enabling digitally driven industrialisation under AfCFTA.

Water security will also feature prominently, especially around transboundary resource management and climate adaptation infrastructure. In line with the Africa Green Infrastructure Alliance and just energy transition objectives, the summit will promote green bonds and adaptation finance, while showcasing investment-ready green projects in energy, transport, digital, and water sectors.

One of the summit’s standout features will be the Infrastructure Marketplace, a platform where African SMEs, startups, and innovators can pitch directly to investors. From mini-grids to AI-powered logistics, the initiative aims to nurture homegrown solutions. AUDA-NEPAD will provide pitch coaching and subsidised exhibition space to selected entrepreneurs, aligning with its vision of fostering a self-sustaining infrastructure economy.

The summit also comes as Africa recalibrates its global partnerships. With financing streams flowing from BRICS institutions and Gulf sovereign funds to traditional Western donors, Luanda will promote South-South cooperation, regional ownership, and Africa’s development autonomy.

The presence of former Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou, the AU’s AfCFTA Champion, is expected to lend further political gravitas to the proceedings.

The summit will culminate in the adoption of the Luanda Declaration, outlining concrete commitments, financing frameworks, and accountability mechanisms to track post-summit implementation. Both AUDA-NEPAD and the Angolan government have committed to robust monitoring systems to ensure pledges translate into real-world projects.

As the first infrastructure summit taking place under South Africa’s G20 Presidency, the Luanda gathering positions Africa not as a recipient of infrastructure aid, but as a proactive architect of a global development agenda rooted in justice, inclusion, and sustainability.

A press release from the AU Commission’s Department of Infrastructure and Energy highlights that “with over $70 billion in African pension and sovereign wealth funds available annually, new public-private cooperation models will be explored to unlock these resources for long-term infrastructure investment.” The statement adds, importantly, this continental momentum aligns with Africa’s positioning on the global stage. Under South Africa’s G20 Presidency in 2025, Africa has a unique opportunity to elevate infrastructure financing and energy access as global priorities. The Summit in Luanda will serve as a key African platform feeding into global dialogues and reaffirming Africa’s leadership in proposing solutions that work for the continent and for the world.