The conclusions of the webinar organized on August 12, 2025, by the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) call for a strategic realignment of infrastructure financing. The institution aims to make private capital long peripheral the central driver of a catch-up plan estimated at over US$100 billion.
In West Africa, the infrastructure gap is not just a matter of physical delay roads, ports, power grids but a major drag on productivity, competitiveness, and regional integration. Entitled “Financing Sustainable Infrastructure through Private Sector Mobilization”, the webinar brought together institutional investors, development bankers, and others. Experts analyzed the roadmap to turn this ambition into bankable and resilient projects.
From state-dominance to blended capital
Opening the webinar, Dr. Brice Houeton, Head of Resource Mobilization at EBID, outlined the stakes in a context of multidimensional crises, rapid demographic growth, and pressing needs that have tested the limits of public capacity to finance sustainable infrastructure. The message was clear: “Relying solely on the state is no longer viable. We must simultaneously mobilize public, private, and multilateral actors.”
Former Togolese Minister of Public Works, Zouréhatou Tchakondo-Kassah-Traoré, highlighted a structural infrastructure deficit in ECOWAS. While Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are among the four countries in the region with electrification rates around 70%, most member states remain below 50%. In addition, 50% of the region’s roads are neither paved nor properly developed, which raises the cost of bringing agricultural products to market. “According to studies, ECOWAS’s infrastructure financing gap lies between US$50 and 100 billion per year.” Given that the continent spent US$160 billion servicing debt, the financial resources exist—but they must be better structured. Private sector involvement is indispensable to bridge the gap.
Commercial banks typically operate with short-term resources, incompatible with the long cycles of infrastructure. “Mobilizing idle savings and channeling them into long-term instruments is imperative. Pension funds can play a decisive role, provided the paradigm shifts.”
Taking the floor, Dr. Olagunju Ashimolowo, Vice President of Operations at EBID, confirmed the West African gap: “We are seeing more and more demand for infrastructure financing, while at the same time the availability of public funds is shrinking.”
De-risking before investing
Participating in the webinar, Kebba Fye, Acting Director of the ECOWAS Project Preparation and Development Unit, summarized the challenge as an equation: “Billions of dollars in deficits will not be filled without unlocking domestic investment potential. This requires structured de-risking mechanisms: regional insurance, public guarantees, blended finance vehicles.”
Mr. Fye advocated for an ECOWAS guarantee mechanism to reassure investors against political and operational risks. For his part, Landry Ahouansou, Regional Director for West and Central Africa at STOA Infra & Energy, stressed governance as the key: “Governance, governance, governance. A state with an impeccable repayment track record inspires more confidence than an over-guaranteed state in default.”
Among the tools discussed were the issuance of infrastructure bonds in local currency to mobilize domestic savings while limiting exposure to exchange rate risk.
Regional integration: a lever for bankability
Fabrice Vossah, Deputy CEO at Vista Bank France, cited the UEMOA example: “A single currency and an integrated market across eight countries already represent a comparative advantage. If ECOWAS extends this model to all its member states, the leverage effect on project bankability would be considerable.” A wider market would offer deeper liquidity pools, a more diversified investor base, and sufficiently attractive regional project portfolios to draw large-scale private capital.
From words to action: EBID as conductor
The diagnosis is clear: West Africa does not lack savings but lacks instruments to mobilize them. The region does not lack vision but lacks bankable, secure projects anchored in robust governance frameworks. In this architecture, EBID seeks to act as a structuring catalyst—aligning political will, regulatory reform, and financial innovation. Whether through infrastructure bonds, pension fund mobilization, regional insurance mechanisms, or ECOWAS guarantees, the objective is clear: to move private capital from the periphery to the very heart of African infrastructure financing.
