The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved an equity investment of $20 million in the Africa50 Infrastructure Acceleration Fund I, in support of its target to mobilise private capital for infrastructure across the continent.

The pan-African infrastructure private equity fund that is mobilising up to $500 million for investment in power, energy, digital and social infrastructure, transportation, logistics, and water and sanitation sectors.

AfDB’s Director for the Industrial and Trade Development Department, Abdu Mukhtar said the Bank’s investment in the Fund underlined its strategic nature and the fact that the Bank prioritises investing in strategic infrastructure sectors that contribute to closing Africa’s infrastructure financing gap (estimated at $68-108 billion annually).

The fund is sponsored by Africa50, an infrastructure investment platform established by governments and the AfDB with a strong track record of investments in the private sector and of projects undertaken under a Public Private-Partnership (PPP) framework.

(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)