Africa is stepping up efforts to design its own financial solutions as leaders, regulators, and investors gathered in Dakar for the first edition of the Structured Finance Africa (SFA) 2025 Forum.
The event, held on Thursday, brought together 300 decision-makers under the theme “Financial Innovations and the Structural Transformation of African Economies.” Against the backdrop of an annual infrastructure financing gap estimated at over $100 billion, participants explored strategies to mobilise resources through securitisation, public-private partnerships, Islamic finance, and green finance.
According to Isaac Mbaye, Managing Director of Invictus Capital & Finance, the continent faces enormous challenges. “Some $4 trillion a year is needed to achieve its development goals,” he said, stressing the need for innovative mechanisms. He further noted that Africa requires nearly $2.8 trillion by 2030 to adapt to climate change.
For Badanam Patoki, Director of the Financial Markets Authority of the West African Monetary Union (AMF-UMOA), structured finance must become central to the continent’s economic strategy. “Whether it is securitization, project financing, public-private partnerships, Islamic finance or green finance, these instruments must become real strategic levers to accelerate the transformation of our continent,” he declared.
Senegal’s Minister of Finance, Cheikh Diba, echoed this sentiment, underscoring the role of public-private collaboration. “Structured financing is not just a sophisticated financial package, but rather a partnership tool between public and private actors serving common objectives,” he said.
Discussions at the forum covered five priority areas: mobilising local savings through securitisation, creating attractive regulatory frameworks, advancing trade finance, deploying hybrid instruments for sustainable infrastructure, and building synergies between fintech and structured finance to support SMEs.
Encouraging success stories were also highlighted. Mbaye cited Kenya’s $150 million future receivables securitisation completed in July 2024 as proof that “Africa can innovate and attract large-scale investors, both local and international.” At the regional level, Patoki pointed to Islamic finance, which has already mobilised over 1,400 billion FCFA since the 2022 regulatory framework was adopted.
Beyond the technical discussions, the forum carried a political message of financial sovereignty. “We affirm our conviction that Africa must find within itself the ways and means to respond to its financial and economic challenges,” Minister Diba said, linking the initiative to Senegal’s long-term development vision, Senegal 2050.
The forum was co-organised by Invictus Capital & Finance, KF Titrisation, and Development Finance Advisory. Its organisers described the gathering as “the transition from potential to scaling up” for structured financing in Africa.
Minister Diba concluded by announcing the upcoming Invest in Senegal forum scheduled for 7–8 October, with the ambition of making structured finance a cornerstone of Africa’s economic transformation.
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