A golden opportunity to accelerate Africa's energy and infrastructure
What is today’s energy and infrastructure challenge and how do we address it?
By Dele Kuti, Global Head, Energy & Infrastructure, Standard Bank Group
As key stakeholders gather for the 2025 US–Africa Business Summit in Angola, I truly believe we have a golden opportunity to step up Africa’s energy and infrastructure.
At a time when Africa is increasingly taking centre stage in global economic governance, all the core elements are in hand – our collective job now is to connect them in a way that can truly unlock the potential of the great continent we call our home.
This is, of course, a major undertaking and it’s why so many of us have gathered together for this Summit. As Africa’s largest bank by assets with an on-the-ground presence in 20 countries and four international financial centres, Standard Bank has sent a befitting delegation drawn from both our Africa and New York operations to the Summit.
We’re here on the ground because we want to play our part and as a long-term advocate for the continent’s prosperity, we believe we’re well placed to do so – Standard Bank has been in Africa since 1862 and the US since 1994.
But what is today’s energy and infrastructure challenge and how do we address it?
Bridging the infrastructure funding gap
A commonly accepted metric around the topic is that an investment of $100-$120 billion per annum is required to bridge the current infrastructure funding gap in Africa. This infrastructure is critical to the growth of the continent, and today it simply isn’t at the level needed to unlock its rich potential. Add to that an estimated energy funding gap of $100 billion per year and it’s clear that there is a lot of work to do.
There are a number of reasons why investment is not always getting through – from the perceived instability associated with the continent, inadequacy of capital markets in Africa, to currency challenges and political risk. When I observe the huge levels of investment in Asia, the question I ask is: “What exactly is the environment that is driving capital to those markets and how do we create that environment around Africa?” This is precisely where Standard Bank, with our deep local knowledge and global reach, plays a crucial role in de-risking projects and connecting capital to opportunity.
Quite simply, our job at the Summit and beyond, is to enable this environment so that investment can flow freely into Africa. Key to this, is the role of governments to provide the regulatory framework and an enabling environment that can attract public and private investment, and financial institutions, particularly development banks, to facilitate the funding required to make it happen.
But there are two major challenges to overcome. Firstly, there is an urgent need to accelerate access to energy because there are still 600 million people in Africa who have no access to electricity, and secondly, there are significant barriers still holding back infrastructure development – it is estimated that 5% of African GDP is being impacted by challenges such as water sanitation, and high transport costs have increased the price of goods in Africa by almost 75%. Addressing these challenges requires a holistic approach and long-term commitment from all stakeholders.
Clearing pathways to prosperity
The theme of this year’s Summit is Pathways to Prosperity: A Shared Vision for US–Africa Partnership. Over 1,000 public and private sector leaders, including African Heads of State, US and African ministers, business leaders and multilateral organisations have gathered to identify and clear this pathway.
But what do these pathways look like and how do we navigate them?
One hurdle in front of us is energy availability across the continent. Economies that flourish today have abundant power resources. For example, China is predicted to have 3,300 gigawatts of installed solar and wind power capacity by 2030 – almost 25 times what South Africa has today. Making energy available across Africa, through solutions like aggregation models and distributed generation, can drive GDP growth, help lower the cost of inflation and improve Africa’s sustainability. While trade imbalance is reducing, we need to continue to step up the pace.
A task to tackle together
While we are proud of our heritage in Africa, we also acknowledge that a task of this scale cannot be achieved alone. Again, this is why we are gathered in Angola – around the table we have government officials, policy makers, banks and private sector companies that are actually going to be driving the investment Africa needs.
We’ve seen that this level of collaboration is what is required to unlock the next phase of Africa’s infrastructure and energy development. Let me share a few examples of the power of collaboration in action.
In Nigeria, the development of Azura-Edo Power project set the benchmark for independent power generation, and in Mozambique and Malawi, the Nacala railway and port corridor project improved competitiveness of exports. Neither of these projects would have been possible without all stakeholders coming together for the greater good or without funding from organisations like Standard Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). Similarly, here in Angola where the Summit is taking place, a number of key solar projects have been powered by a private partner called Sun Africa.
This spirit of collaboration is also necessary when it comes to tackling the issue of power transmission – with ongoing challenges around transmission lines, the required private investment will only come through if the right support is provided by the government and development financial institutions. This applies in the short-term, but also for long-term capital investment too.
One great example of this in action is Mission 300, a collaborative initiative between the World Bank, the AfDB and other partners which aims to provide electricity access to 300 million people in Africa by 2030. As I highlighted earlier, this ambitious goal is crucial for the continent's development, as access to electricity is a key enabler for economic growth, improved healthcare, education and overall quality of life.
Time to galvanise
Of course, there is much work to do and challenges I haven’t even touched on such as the low liquidity of many African countries, poorly run public utilities, political instability and the cost of execution, but this week’s Summit and the momentum I’m seeing across the continent gives me great hope for Africa’s energy and infrastructure future. Standard Bank is committed to driving this sustainable growth, leveraging our financial acumen and fostering strong, collaborative partnerships with all stakeholders. Let’s build Africa’s future together.