Riyadh, 24 November 2025 – A High-Level Africa Investment Roundtable was held under the theme “Powering Africa’s Industrial Future: Strategic Investments and Partnerships for Agenda 2063 and the SDGs” on the margins of the 21st Session of the UNIDO General Conference. The Roundatable convened ministers and senior government officials from Burkina Faso, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo, alongside high-level representatives from the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), West African Development Bank (BOAD), Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), OPEC Fund, World Bank, Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA), and leading private-sector partners. The Roundtable focused on accelerating investment-ready industrial opportunities aligned with the AU Agenda 2063 and the AfCFTA.

Speaking at the Roundtable, UNIDO Director General Gerd Müller and Fatou Haidara, UNIDO Deputy Director General, called for turning vision into bankable projects and integrated industrial ecosystems, setting the tone for a results-driven dialogue. DG Müller: “Africa is the continent of the future. African countries need investments in the future of the young generation – in education, vocational training, the empowerment of women and job creation.” Partners reaffirmed their commitment to mobilizing long-term capital, strengthening Africa–GCC cooperation, and fast-tracking corridor-based industrialization. Through innovative financing mechanisms including blended finance, co-investment platforms and public–private partnerships, the Roundtable outlined concrete pathways to de-risk capital flows and unlock large-scale, sustainable industrial investments across the continent.

Key Outcome: The signing of Joint Declarations with Abdoulaye Daffe, Vice-President, BOAD and Flory Okandju, Executive Secretary, CCTTFA marks a major milestone toward delivering capital, building robust project pipelines, and driving innovation-led industrial growth, while advancing the CCTTFA’s Green Economic Corridor Vision through a multi-stakeholder approach anchored in the UNIDO Strategy for Africa.

Next steps include targeted investment missions, accelerated feasibility studies, and structured co-financing platforms, supported by a UNIDO-led task force working with AFC, Afreximbank, BOAD, CBE, the OPEC Fund, and the World Bank to drive implementation and maintain momentum.

Source: UNIDO