Infrastructure Spending in Africa

Africa's infrastructure spending is robust relative to GDP but insufficient given population growth, with financing heavily reliant on governments and development partners. Public investment is severely constrained by high sovereign debt, with debt servicing costs often exceeding infrastructure spending. Private investment remains low due to high capital costs and risk perceptions, though specific countries like South Africa and Egypt have seen success through targeted policy frameworks. Development finance is also facing a decline due to geopolitical and macroeconomic pressures.

• Africa's infrastructure spending as a percentage of GDP is higher than South America's but lower than South Asia's. In 2024, Africa's total expenditure on all infrastructure aspects was approximately 5.7% of GDP, compared to 5.2% in South Asia and 2.3% in South America.
• Infrastructure financing in Africa is dominated by governments and development funders, who together accounted for 89% of average annual commitments between 2016 and 2020, totaling an average of US$83 billion per year. While the private sector is more active in digital infrastructure (55% of investment), its overall contribution is lower than in other developing countries.
• Public investment is limited by severe debt distress; in 2024, public debt reached 67% of Africa's GDP. Between 2019 and 2023, African governments spent an average of seven times more on debt servicing than on infrastructure, and interest payments exceed infrastructure spending in 15 African countries.
• China is the largest individual funder of African infrastructure, but its contributions dropped from US$25.7 billion in 2018 to US$6.5 billion in 2020 due to concerns over African sovereign debt burdens.
• Private investment is hindered by a high weighted average cost of capital (13% in Africa vs 8% in OECD countries) and high project costs. However, South Africa and Egypt captured 21% and 15% of private infrastructure investment respectively between 2013-2023, aided by initiatives like South Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and Egypt's first sovereign green bond.
• Development finance is declining; disbursements fell from US$16.6 billion in 2022 to US$14.8 billion in 2023. Net aid from OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) members is projected to see a cumulative reduction of 16–28% between 2023 and 2025.

APA

Yeboua, K. (2026). Infrastructure Spending in Africa. Institute for Security Studies. https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=11-large-infrastructure&topic=07-infrastructure-spending

Chicago

Yeboua, Kouassi. Infrastructure Spending in Africa. Institute for Security Studies, 2026. https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=11-large-infrastructure&topic=07-infrastructure-spending.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Yeboua |first1=Kouassi |title=Infrastructure Spending in Africa |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=25 May 2026 |url=https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=11-large-infrastructure&topic=07-infrastructure-spending |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yeboua2026infrastructure, author = {Yeboua, Kouassi}, title = {{Infrastructure Spending in Africa}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2026}, month = may, url = {https://futures.issafrica.org/thematic/guide.pdf?thematic=11-large-infrastructure&topic=07-infrastructure-spending}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }