30 October 2026
By inAfrika Newsroom
Africa Finance Corporation signed cooperation agreements with Italian institutions in June 2026 aimed at turning African infrastructure and industrial proposals into projects that can attract financing. The agreements cover project preparation, guarantees, procurement and connections between African project sponsors and Italian businesses.
Announcing the arrangements at the AFC–Italy Business Forum in Rome on 17 June, AFC named Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), export credit agency SACE, Confindustria Assafrica & Mediterraneo and IMAGRO among its partners. The cooperation forms part of the investment relationship associated with Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa.
The sectors identified include electricity, renewable energy, transport, logistics, critical minerals, manufacturing and regional trade corridors. These are areas in which a project’s commercial prospects can depend on several linked investments, including power supply, transport access and reliable industrial customers.
Under the CDP agreement, the institutions planned to explore co-financing, future funding arrangements and preparation of projects across infrastructure, water, agriculture, food security and manufacturing. SACE’s framework focuses on guarantees, export credit and other ways to share financing risks.
The agreement with Confindustria Assafrica & Mediterraneo is intended to connect project sponsors with Italian enterprises through business missions, investment promotion and matchmaking. Such connections can help identify equipment suppliers and technical partners, although companies still need to meet individual procurement and financing requirements.
AFC said CDP had previously provided facilities totalling EUR 400 million, including a EUR 250 million loan in 2025 supported by an 80 percent SACE guarantee. Those figures describe the existing relationship; they should not be counted as a new financing package announced at the June forum.
For African businesses, the practical test is whether the frameworks produce prepared projects, committed financing and opportunities to supply goods and services. The June announcement did not provide a single aggregate value for newly disbursed funds or a construction timetable covering all proposed sectors. This report concerns those June agreements and does not claim subsequent project completion.
Source: Africa Finance Corporation, release circulated 17 June 2026.
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