PARIS, 11 Dec. - (ANA) - Infrastructure can be the engine that powers Africa's economic transformation. The 2025 edition of Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD), the OECD's flagship publication on the region, shows that by increasing annual investments from USD 83 to USD 155 billion, the continent could double its GDP by 2040. 

 

To achieve this despite pervasive financial constraints, policymakers should prioritise high-return infrastructure projects, promote public-private partnerships, gather investment data and manage social and ecological risks.

 

 

 

 

Africa could double its GDP before 2040 by raising annual infrastructure investments to USD 155 billion (representing 5.6% of its GDP in 2024). This could accelerate growth by 4.5 percentage points per year, enough to exceed the African Union’s Agenda 2063 objective of 7% growth and achieve the same level of transformation as the best-performing economies around the world with otherwise similar profiles. 

 

As a proportion of their wealth, African economies would need to invest on average three times more than Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and five times more than developing Asia. But the economic returns for Africa would be three times higher than for the LAC region, and nine times higher than for developing Asia.

 

 

 

 

Governments account for 41% of Africa’s infrastructure spending, but fiscal constraints and rising debt are straining public budgets. From 2019 to 2023, African governments spent an average of seven times more servicing debt than on infrastructure; 15 countries spent more on debt interest than on infrastructure. And yet African governments are set to remain the major driving force for bridging the continent’s infrastructure investment gap, as the outlook for other sources of finance remains uncertain.

 

 

 

 

Bilateral and multilateral development partners fund nearly half (48%) of Africa’s infrastructure investment. Official development finance increased from USD 10 billion to nearly USD 15 billion between 2010 and 2023, while disbursements from development banks doubled over the period, from USD 4.2 to 8.2 billion. However, future support is uncertain: official development assistance is projected to fall by as much as 17% in 2025, following a 9% drop in 2024. African countries with the lowest human development levels are likely to be the most affected by those cuts. Even China, whose Belt and Road Initiative, launched in 2013, contributed to the rapid development of large-scale infrastructure projects on the continent, has been reducing its development finance commitments to Africa’s infrastructure since 2016.

 

 

 

 

The expected economic returns on investment are greatest for roads, railways, fibre-optic cables and solar energy. Focus national and regional plans on priority development corridors and urban infrastructure to boost the most productive sectors, lower trade costs, stimulate regional integration and enhance participation in global value chains.

 

To download the full report, visit: https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2025/10/africa-s-development-dynamics-2025_d153f2a8/c2b40285-en.pdf

 

AB/ANA/11 December 2025 - - -