The 2025 Africa Investment Forum (AIF) Market Days opened on Wednesday with strong calls from government leaders and development experts for expanded private-sector participation, innovative financing solutions, and accelerated policy reforms to unlock Africa’s vast economic potential.
Convened under the high patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the three-day forum brings together government ministers, global investors, development finance institutions, and business leaders to advance bankable projects across strategic sectors, including energy, transport, digital infrastructure, agriculture, and industrialisation. The 2025 theme is “Bridging the Gap: Mobilising Private Capital to Unlock Africa’s Full Potential.”
Opening the Forum attended by more than 1700 delegates, Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Nadia Fettah, together with African Development Bank President, Dr Sidi Ould Tah, emphasised that closing Africa’s financing gaps will be essential for the continent to realise its full promise.
Representing King Mohammed VI, Fettah urged African countries to assume “sovereign responsibility” for creating conditions that attract investment: political stability, strong institutions, modern and predictable regulatory frameworks, and transparent governance.
“Giving means doing our part --building infrastructure, supporting our entrepreneurs, embracing innovation, and driving major transitions in energy, digital, industrial, agricultural, and logistics sectors,” Fettah said. “Receiving, on the other hand, is about forging meaningful partnerships and crowding in capital that fuels long-term development.”
Highlighting global resource needs, Fettah noted that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires $4 trillion annually worldwide, with Africa needing nearly $1.3 trillion each year.
She reaffirmed Morocco’s target for private investment to comprise two-thirds of national investment by 2035 -- reflecting the private sector’s pivotal role in job creation, innovation, and competitiveness.
Chairing the Market Days for the first time as President of the African Development Bank, Dr Ould Tah outlined his leadership vision, the Bank’s “Four Cardinal Points,” aimed at strengthening Africa’s long-term competitiveness: massively mobilising capital; reforming Africa’s financial architecture; transforming demographic growth into economic power; and building resilient infrastructure while expanding local value addition.
“Our youth are our greatest asset,” he said, calling for targeted support for women and young entrepreneurs.
Dr Ould Tah reiterated that AIF boardrooms are “about much more than transactions—they are investments in our shared future.”
The centrepiece of Market Days is the boardroom sessions, where project sponsors are expected to present 40 bankable deals to investors, alongside government representatives, development institutions, and businesses working to move them toward close.
The share of investment-ready projects has risen markedly, from 81 percent in 2024 to 95 percent this year. This builds on momentum from previous editions, fuelled by the trajectory set since the Forum’s launch in 2018, which has generated strong investor interest. Sponsorship for 2025 has also more than doubled compared with last year.
Both Minister Fettah and Dr Ould Tah expressed confidence that the Forum will generate concrete partnerships to boost economic growth and improve livelihoods across Africa.
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