While African states seek to accelerate the realization of their infrastructure in a context of budget constraints, fragmentation of international funding, and increased competition to attract private capital, the question of project preparation becomes central. For Financial Afrik, Mouhamad Rassoul Dieng, founder of MOPAT Group, discusses the barriers that still prevent many African projects from reaching financial closure, the role of public-private partnerships, and the need to move from a logic of announcement to a logic of execution.
Interview by Daniel Djagoué
Many African projects still struggle to reach financial closure or execution phase. What, in your opinion, are the main structural barriers that explain this gap between vision and realization?
The main barrier is not the absence of projects. The needs are known. The African Development Bank estimates that Africa needs to invest between $130 and $170 billion annually in its infrastructure, with an annual deficit ranging from $68 to $108 billion. The real difficulty is transforming these needs into truly financeable projects.
An investor does not finance an ambition. They finance a project that they understand the economic model, potential revenues, contractual framework, risk-sharing, and execution capacity. Many strategic projects remain blocked because these elements are not sufficiently documented when presented to financial partners.
The numbers show it. In 2024, sub-Saharan Africa attracted $7.9 billion in investment commitments in infrastructure with private participation, more than double that of 2023. But this still represents less than 8% of the total recorded by the World Bank. Capital exists, but it is directed towards the most readable and well-prepared projects.
At MOPAT Group, we intervene precisely at this level: transforming a public priority or territorial potential into a structured project, with an economic model, governance, partners, and an execution trajectory. A credible pipeline is not just a list of intentions. It is a portfolio of prioritized, prepared projects capable of progressing to operation.
Today, there is a growing interest in transformative investments and a real need for African countries to modernize their infrastructure. Why do you think PPP is a relevant model to realize the ambitions of transforming African economies?
PPP is relevant because it allows for complementarity between the public vision and the operational capacities of the private sector. The state sets the vision, defines priorities, guarantees the public interest, and creates the framework in which the project can unfold. The private sector, on the other hand, brings its ability to structure, finance, build, operate, and achieve performance objectives.
Moreover, PPPs no longer need to prove themselves on the continent. The Henri Konan Bédié Bridge in Abidjan demonstrated that a well-structured PPP could address a concrete urban mobility issue. The toll highway Dakar-Diamniadio in Senegal is also often cited as a reference because it relieved access to Dakar and significantly reduced travel times. In energy, the Azura-Edo power plant in Nigeria, with over 460 MW of installed capacity, also illustrates the ability of a PPP to mobilize significant private capital around a clear contractual framework.
These examples show that PPP is not just a financing solution. It is also, and above all, a framework of responsibility. It answers very concrete questions: who builds? Who finances? Who operates? What revenues are expected? What risks are borne by each party? What commitments does the state retain to protect the public interest? What results will be monitored?
A poorly prepared PPP can create blockages. A well-structured PPP, on the contrary, can accelerate the transformation of a territory. The difference often lies in the preparation: clear regulatory framework, well-defined responsibilities, clarified site access conditions, robust economic model, strong project governance, and planned operation from the start.
Integrated economic infrastructures are increasingly talked about today – special economic zones, logistics corridors, agro-industrial platforms, energy, tourism. Which models do you find most attractive to private investors today?
Investors first look at projects capable of generating real economic activity. Infrastructure alone is not enough. What matters is what it activates: production, transformation, logistical flows, revenues, jobs, services, and the presence of private operators.
Special economic zones are attractive when designed as true production spaces. An SEZ must offer companies a clear environment to settle, produce, transform, export, and grow. This involves a well-identified site, clear access conditions, energy, logistical access, business services, and operational governance.
Agro-industrial platforms are also essential. Africa produces a lot but still transforms too little. A platform that connects production, storage, transformation, certification, energy, logistics, and market access can change the economy of a sector. It also helps to retain more value on the continent.
Logistics corridors also have significant potential, provided they are not reduced to simple roads. A corridor should connect production basins, ports, industrial zones, and regional markets. Otherwise, it transports value without necessarily capturing it.
International investors are increasingly analyzing the risks associated with projects in a more detailed manner: sectoral risks, regulatory risks, financial risks, exchange risks, execution risks, and governance risks. How to structure PPPs capable of attracting long-term capital while safeguarding the interests of states, public partners, and populations?
First, it is important to be precise about the notion of risk. Risk is not a general category. It can be related to the site, regulatory framework, demand, financing, currency, construction, operation, environment, or project acceptability. A good PPP starts by identifying these risks, documenting them, and realistically distributing them.
An investor’s first expectation is clarity. They must understand what they are financing, how the project will generate revenues, who bears what responsibilities, and how difficulties will be addressed. But this clarity must also protect the state. A balanced PPP does not involve transferring all risks to the public or entirely to the private sector. It must organize a coherent sharing with clear commitments.
The second condition is operation. Many projects are detailed on construction but less on operation after delivery. A poorly operated asset quickly becomes a problem for all parties: the state, the investor, users, and the territory. Maintenance, service quality, performance indicators, and monitoring mechanisms must be considered early on.
Finally, there is integration into the local economy. A project that creates jobs, mobilizes suppliers, trains youth, and involves local SMEs is often more robust. It benefits from better ownership and greater sustainability. It is not just a social impact issue; it is also a risk reduction factor.
Finally, what role can a structure like MOPAT Group play in moving large African projects from concept to concrete execution, and what is your vision for the next five years?
MOPAT Group intervenes when a public priority, asset, or territorial potential needs to become a concrete project. Our role is to structure this transition.
We act as a developer, integrator, and operator. Developer because we start from a real need or asset to build an economic opportunity. Integrator because we coordinate the various project components: infrastructure, energy, site access, financing, technical partners, operators, PPP framework, and governance. Operator because we integrate operation, maintenance, performance, and value enhancement from the structuring phase.
This continuity is important. In many projects, each actor intervenes on a specific link: study, financing, construction, or operation. Our approach is to grasp the whole from the start to avoid blind spots.
In Côte d’Ivoire, we work in institutional dialogue with the CNP-PPP, in a country where PPPs are already a structuring tool. In 2023, the CNP-PPP followed 63 projects representing nearly 6,000 billion CFA francs of investment. In The Gambia, we are carrying out a project to develop a special economic zone designed as a national asset for attractiveness. In Gabon, we are engaged in a large-scale forest valorization initiative, covering around 600,000 hectares, with the aim of strengthening local wood processing, value chains, employment, and value retention on the territory.
For the next five years, our ambition is clear: to make MOPAT Group a reference platform for states, investors, and industrialists who want to move from an announcement logic to an execution logic. Africa does not just need new projects. It needs better-prepared, better-governed projects capable of functioning.
