AfCFTA infrastructure fund targets 100m Africans to pay $1 a day

The Africa Prosperity Network (APN) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat have unveiled an ambitious Infrastructure Compact aimed at mobilizing African resources to finance the continent’s economic integration.
A key feature of this initiative is a special infrastructure fund, targeting 100 million Africans to contribute as little as $1 per day, which will be used to finance major infrastructure projects across the continent.
The AfCFTA Infrastructure Fund is expected to drive the transformation of Africa’s 55 economies into the world’s largest single market.

The fund will focus on critical infrastructure sectors, including energy, transportation, and digital connectivity.
With a projected mobilization of over $2 trillion in the next decade, the Integrated Africa Infrastructure Growth Fund will tap into Africa’s growing middle class, multilateral financial institutions, domestic capital markets, pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds.
“If 100 million Pan-Africanists, including people of African descent and friends of Africa, commit to investing as little as $30 a month into a well-structured fund, Africa could generate $36.5 billion annually,” stated Asare Otchere-Darko, Executive Chairman of APN.
This could finance railways and roads that will connect Africa comprehensively within five years.

2025 Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD)
The initiative was launched during the 2025 Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD), which took place from January 30 to February 1 in Accra.

Under the theme “Delivering Africa’s Single Market Through Infrastructure: Invest, Connect, and Integrate,” the summit brought together African leaders and policymakers to discuss the continent’s infrastructure needs.

Transport and logistics integration
The Compact prioritizes the implementation of the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) and seeks to address the 30-40% cost premium currently impacting intra-African trade.
It also calls for the full execution of the Africa Integrated Maritime Strategy 2050 to enhance trade efficiency and connectivity.

Energy security and power integration
With over 30 African nations suffering from unreliable power supply, the Compact emphasizes interconnected power grids and harmonized regional energy policies.
Major projects such as the Grand Inga Dam for hydropower and the utilization of the Sahara and Kalahari Deserts for solar energy are expected to play a pivotal role in Africa’s energy transformation.

Digital transformation
Building on the African Union’s Protocol on Digital Trade, the Compact outlines a five-year roadmap to achieve Pan-African mobile system interoperability.
The key recommendations include bringing all AU member states onboard the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) by 2027, modeled after Ghana’s interoperability framework, enhancing cross-platform integration to ensure seamless transactions between mobile money and banking platforms by 2027 and achieving full cross-border mobile money interoperability across all AU regional blocs by 2030.

Healthcare and social infrastructure
The Compact also emphasizes strengthening Africa’s healthcare systems through increased pharmaceutical production and digital health solutions.
It calls on governments to prioritize Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) education to equip young Africans with entrepreneurial and employable skills necessary to benefit from AfCFTA.

Prominent leaders rally for implementation
African leaders at the summit urged swift implementation of the Compact’s recommendations.
President John Dramani Mahama remarked, “The decisions we make at this conference must not end in resolutions alone. We must act with urgency, determination, and a shared vision for prosperity.”
Presidents Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé of Togo and Azali Assoumani of Comoros echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the need for tangible progress in African integration.
AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene announced that the AfCFTA Transit Guarantee Scheme, set to launch in 2025, will facilitate the movement of goods across borders, addressing one of the continent’s major trade barriers.

Lighting the Africa trade torch
A symbolic moment of the summit was the lighting of the Africa Trade Torch (ATT), an initiative led by the Africa Business Council.
The torch represents the commitment to mainstream AfCFTA benefits across African communities, particularly focusing on SMEs, women-led enterprises, and youth engagement.

Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the APN Advisory Council, highlighted Ghana’s mobile payment ecosystem as a model for digital financial integration across Africa.
Meanwhile, APN CEO Siding Eltoum emphasized that the Africa Prosperity Dialogues will remain a critical platform for uniting African stakeholders around a common development vision.
Other distinguished attendees included Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, Vice-President of Ghana, Ibrahim Boughali, Speaker, People’s National Assembly, Algeria, Dr Sidi Ould Tah, President of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) and Mr Mesfin Tasew Bekele, Group CEO, Ethiopian Airlines Group.

A vision for a self-reliant Africa
As the organizing body of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues, APN remains committed to advancing the African Union’s Agenda 2063 vision of “The Africa We Want.”
With 5,000 participants from 46 countries attending the 2025 summit, including heads of state, industry leaders, policymakers, and development partners, the Compact signals a bold move toward self-reliance and economic transformation.
Looking ahead, APN plans to present its proposals at the 38th African Union (AU) Summit on February 15-16, 2025, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The summit will bring together leaders from all 55 AU member states, alongside representatives from international organizations, NGOs, and the private sector.
With a clear roadmap, strong leadership, and committed financial backing from Africans themselves, the AfCFTA Infrastructure Fund stands poised to reshape the continent’s economic future—one dollar at a time.