AfDB and UK Export Finance Open a New Route for African Project Co-Financing

Monday 26th October 2026

By inAfrika Newsroom

The African Development Bank Group and UK Export Finance have signed a cooperation framework to identify and develop co-financing opportunities across Africa. The agreement seeks to combine development-bank finance with export-credit support, expanding the range of institutions that can participate in financing projects.

The AfDB’s announcement dates the signing to 21 October in Conakry, Guinea, during the fifth UK–West and Central Francophone Africa Trade and Investment Forum. Abdul Kamara signed for the bank and Tim Reid for UK Export Finance.

Channel Africa’s 25 October report identifies infrastructure, energy, water, healthcare, digital infrastructure, agriculture and trade finance among the areas of interest. It also describes opportunities involving critical minerals and supply-chain resilience.

The memorandum sets up cooperation rather than announcing a fully financed portfolio of named projects. No single overall lending commitment can be inferred from the agreement’s existence, and individual operations will still need assessment and financing decisions.

Co-financing means that more than one institution supports a transaction or investment. The practical value depends on how their instruments fit together, the risks they accept and the terms available to the borrower; a larger number of participants alone does not guarantee an affordable project.

African developers and public agencies can read the announcement as a potential additional route for structuring viable investments. They would still need a clear project scope, credible costs, a delivery plan and an explanation of how the investment will generate or receive the revenue needed to operate.

The agreement’s continental remit makes it relevant to East African infrastructure planning even though the signing took place in West Africa. It also provides financing context for the separate debate over Africa’s mineral-processing investment needs. The announcement does not identify a Tanzanian project as an approved beneficiary, so local implications remain prospective.

Named co-financed operations, disclosed commitments and subsequent construction or service delivery will provide stronger evidence of impact. Those milestones will show whether the framework adds capital and implementation capacity to projects that African economies need.