The organizers of the Structured Finance Africa (SFA Forum), an event whose very first edition is scheduled for September 25, 2025 in Dakar (Senegal), held a press conference on Thursday, July 31. Context, key themes, objectives, and expected impacts, among others, were on the agenda of this virtual meeting announcing the forum with the theme: “Financial Innovations and Structural Transformation of African Economies: Securitization, Sustainable Financing, and Sovereignty.”
Jointly organized by Invictus Capital & Finance, KF Securitization, and Development Finance Advisory (DFA), three major players in financial structuring in West Africa, this event takes place in a context of strong budgetary tensions in African economies, with a structural deficit in infrastructure financing now estimated at over $108 billion per year. “Traditional approaches are showing their limits. Faced with needs exceeding $130 billion annually, the time has come to mobilize innovative financial solutions rooted in African realities,” they explain.
“Our goal is to build a platform for dialogue for the economic transformation of Africa based on three principles: mutual listening, co-construction of solutions, key to trust especially in the dialogue between the public and private sectors, as well as monitoring/evaluation of public policies developed by governments,” said Moustapha FAYE, Managing Director of KF Securitization, in front of journalists. Beyond that, the head of KF Securitization supports, “it is a question of changing the paradigm in the relationships between Africans and their financial partners.”
Moving towards a more ambitious and inclusive financial engineering
According to Isaac Mbaye, Managing Director of Invictus Capital & Finance, “this forum embodies our conviction that it is time to move from traditional financing to a more ambitious, inclusive, and regionally rooted financial engineering. The goal is to create structured solutions together to unlock private and public investment in West Africa.”
Among the expected participants and speakers are, among others, Félix Edoh Kossi Amenounve, Managing Director of the Regional Stock Exchange (BRVM); Christopher Chijiutomi, Managing Director and Africa Head of British International Investment (BII); Oulimata Ndiaye Diassé, Managing Director of UMOA-Titres; Anouar Hassoune, Managing Director of GCR Ratings; Ghislaine Samaké, Managing Director of Ecobank Guinea-Bissau; Omar Cissé, CEO of the In Touch group; Ouns Lemseffer, Associate – Clifford Chance; and Serge Thiémélé, Founder and Managing Partner of First Capital SA, among others.
“Through this forum, we want to strengthen the dialogue between institutional, investors, and operators, to develop realistic and functional solutions to address the urgent need for financing growth and sustainable development. Because, more than just mobilizing financial techniques and instruments, financing the structural transformation of our companies and economies requires a good alignment of approaches and actions of stakeholders,” emphasizes Nafissatou Diagne, Managing Director of Development Finance Advisory (DFA).
Axes
The SFA 2025 Forum aims to explore and promote a more integrated and agile financial approach that addresses the continent’s structural challenges. Five structuring axes frame the discussions:
1. Panorama of the African securitization market: State of play, regional dynamics, obstacles, and levers to effectively mobilize local savings and lighten financial balance sheets.
2. Regulation, rating, and taxation: building a credible and attractive regulatory framework to promote financial innovation and strengthen investor confidence.
3. Trade finance and structured financing: implementing tailored solutions to secure strategic imports and stimulate regional value chains, essential for intra-African trade.
4. Sustainable finance and social infrastructure: moving from intention to execution through hybrid instruments and innovative structures that support projects with a strong social, environmental, and climate impact.
5. Financing SMEs and small businesses: Developing synergies between fintech, microfinance, and financial structuring to boost this key segment of the African economy.
Thus, the Forum aims to go beyond simply identifying challenges to collectively building adapted, inclusive, and sustainable African financial tools, in service of strengthened financial sovereignty and sustainable development.
