By Semafor Africa
Photos: Wikimedia Commons
Africa can boost the pace of its much-needed infrastructure drive by unlocking at least $4 trillion from a wide range of fragmented and under-utilized domestic sources, new research by one of the continent’s leading financial institutions found.
The Africa Finance Corporation, a backer of the Lobito Corridor rail project that aims to link mining regions in DR Congo and Zambia to ports in Angola, estimates that Africa’s domestic capital base includes $2.5 trillion in commercial banking assets and about $1.5 trillion across the non-banking sector.
While foreign reserves make up the majority of the non-bank segment, about 28% is domiciled in pensions alone, the Lagos-based AFC said. Insurance firms, development banks, sovereign wealth funds, and remittances are also sources that could be tapped to finance Africa’s infrastructure, the bank said in its report.
