This article was produced with the support of Boost Africa
Africa’s financing gap is widening amid a global investment slowdown. How does the European Investment Bank (EIB) help lower the risk in the private sector and address this challenge?
Africa is the main region of operations of the EIB outside Europe. Through its financing and technical expertise, the EIB is a global leader in large-scale projects in the areas of water, global health, clean energy, transport and support for the private sector, with a special focus on young people and women.
The EIB Group devotes around 10% of total financing to projects outside the EU. In 2024, this represented approximately €8bn: 40% of which was for projects in Africa. Over the past decade, EIB investments mobilised more than €50bn across Africa
In a changing geopolitical context, the EIB is in a quite unique position to build win-win partnerships around the world, with the 27 Member States of the European Union as shareholders unanimously supporting our strategic approach and our focus on European values and policy priorities.
This means that while some are stepping back, we are moving forward on finance for development, climate action, energy transition, global health, gender equality and social inclusion.
Beyond financing projects and technical advice, we also mobilise private investment by providing valuable data that helps improve the risk assessment of investment in emerging markets.
In this context, the EIB is leading, together with the World Bank Group, the Global Emerging Markets Risk Database (GEMs) – a powerful alliance of 29 multilateral development banks and development finance institutions pooling 40 years of investment experience in emerging economies. GEMs provides comprehensive credit risk data on recovery and default rates, offering insight into the true potential of emerging markets.
It helps ensure that investment decisions are grounded in evidence rather than shaped by bias or outdated assumptions. Together, multilateral development banks are improving the way we work together as a system.
How does the EIB align with the EU’s Global Gateway strategy to support Africa’s development?
The EIB is a key partner of Global Gateway, the EU’s global investment strategy, and we are on track to support €100bn investment under this strategy by the end of 2027.
What lessons have been learned from Boost Africa, and how have they shaped the EIB’s approach to development finance?
Boost Africa is a joint initiative with the African Development Bank and the European Commission. It supports job creation, sustainable growth and poverty alleviation through venture capital and technical assistance for young and female entrepreneurs.
Under Boost Africa, we are nurturing a venture capital ecosystem which in turn is supporting the creation of new innovative companies in Africa. We are doing this through financing and technical assistance. By agreeing to absorb initial losses we help create a positive cycle where more private capital flows into promising startups and small businesses, fostering economic growth and innovation. Our approach is all about increasing our impact and developing innovative, new financing tools to do that.
At the heart of the programme is a unique feature: a first-loss junior investment tranche in early-stage venture capital funds. This means the EIB assumes the riskiest position, helping reduce the risk – often a perceived one – for other investors. As a result, we are able to mobilise private and public capital that would otherwise stay on the sidelines.
The results speak for themselves. With €78m invested, we’ve supported six new African venture capital funds to raise a total of €382m – a leverage of nearly five times.
These funds have so far backed 73 African start-ups, with the number expected to exceed 120 by the end of the investment period. These are very innovative companies. Digital solutions developed by these start-ups are addressing the day-to-day needs of people across the continent. Importantly, Boost Africa is also helping to reverse the brain drain. Two-thirds of the founders of funds supported through Boost Africa have studied outside the continent. They are now returning, bringing global expertise to grow businesses and create value at home.
In the coming weeks we expect to announce an extension and an increase in financing for the Boost Africa initiative, enabling us to support even more innovative ideas from young and female entrepreneurs. The initiative shows that using public finance to attract more participation from the private sector is a powerful tool. With our stamp of approval for projects that can be perceived as higher-risk, we are giving private investors confidence.
What are the EIB’s future priorities in Africa – for example in sectors such as digital technology, climate action and small businesses?
Looking ahead, with our African partners we aim to support more projects in key infrastructures for climate resilience and adaptation, and also help drive a digital transformation, to empower small businesses, and bring financial services to larger parts of the population, including women and youth. We are also working with other development banks, United Nations agencies, the Gavi vaccine alliance and the Gates Foundation to strengthen health systems across Africa. This work expands access to essential medicines and improves local vaccine production in countries such as Rwanda, Senegal, Ghana, and soon South Africa as well.
In Angola, the EIB has helped to finance the country’s first national vaccination campaign to immunise over two million girls against cervical cancer. Supporting women’s health and women’s economic empowerment is both the smart and the right thing to do because when women thrive, communities thrive. At least 30% of all our financing of projects across the continent is dedicated to supporting gender equality.
At the margins of the recent G20 Summit in Johannesburg we pledged more than €2bn into renewable energy projects in Africa over the next two years.
This is critical as around 600m people in Africa still lack access to electricity. Renewable energy projects in Africa bring together climate action and a strong development impact, thus creating the infrastructure required to power businesses and innovation.
Our vision is to help build inclusive, resilient economies that foster innovation and sustainability across Africa – improving people’s lives and reinforcing peace and stability.