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Afreximbank has facilitated contracts worth US$12.1 billion to strengthen intra-African trade and accelerate infrastructure development, Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development, Kanayo Awani, has announced.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2025 in Algiers, during a session themed “Empowering African Contractors – Accelerating Infrastructure Development in Africa”, Awani underscored the need to empower local firms to drive the continent’s growth agenda.
“In just five years, Afreximbank has facilitated $12.1 billion worth of contracts for African firms,” she said, citing landmark projects such as Tanzania’s $2.9 billion hydropower dam and the Nigeria–Niger railway.
African companies including Hassan Allam, Elsewedy Electric, Dangote, Babylorri, Kod in Burkina Faso, Griner and Gutarrini in Angola are emerging as regional champions.
“The future of Africa’s development cannot be outsourced. It must be designed, engineered, and built by Africans,” Awani stressed.
She emphasized that every contract awarded to an African Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) firm means jobs created, skills transferred, and value retained within the continent—turning infrastructure projects into symbols of self-reliance and resilience.
Awani urged stakeholders to align with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework, particularly its trade-in-services protocol, which provides opportunities to leverage local skills, materials, and innovation.
“We have the tools, the partnerships, and the protocols to succeed. What remains is to harness these resources effectively and ensure Africa’s infrastructure priorities are realized,” she said.
Africa spends an estimated $90 billion annually on infrastructure, yet most of this is absorbed by foreign contractors.
Through its Intra-African EPC Contract Promotion Initiative, Afreximbank is shifting the balance by financing, offering technical assistance, advocating for policy reform, and creating matchmaking platforms to ensure African EPCs can compete fairly.
At the Intra-African EPC Workshop, Dr. Anthony Coleman, Director of Development Research at Afreximbank, revealed that Africa’s construction market, valued at $200 billion, could grow to $300 billion by 2032.
However, African contractors still capture a small share of that value due to three main barriers: limited access to finance, poor visibility on project opportunities, and difficulties meeting bid requirements.
Governments, Coleman added, are also constrained by restrictive funding clauses that sideline local players.
In response, Afreximbank is creating a centralised portal for EPC projects, investing in capacity building, and pushing for policy reforms that prioritise African firms.
“We must make EPC projects African-driven, so that together we can take our future into our own hands,” Coleman said.
Contributing to the discussion, Professor Kamel Rezig, Algeria’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Export Promotion, stressed that no sustainable investment, trade, or integration can be achieved without modern infrastructure.
“From roads, ports and railways to financial hubs and smart cities, infrastructure is the backbone of Africa’s growth,” he said.
Rezig highlighted Algeria’s transformation from importer to one of Africa’s top exporters of cement, ceramics, steel, and other building materials, alongside investments in training the next generation of engineers.
He praised Afreximbank for creating platforms and financial instruments that enable African contractors to compete at scale—transforming dependency into collaboration, and unlocking innovation and intra-African trade.
“Algeria is committed to harnessing its resources and expertise to advance Africa’s renaissance,” Rezig concluded, positioning the country as both a partner and a hub for continental cooperation.
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