Following the recent election of a new president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), it is both timely and necessary to cast a bright analytical torch on the institution—scrutinizing its history, assessing its achievements, confronting its failures, and most importantly, determining whether it is fit to build the future Africa We Want.
Since its founding in 1964, the AfDB has undertaken numerous infrastructure and development projects. Its history is long, its portfolio wide, and its achievements traceable—but few would call them transformative. The bank has helped finance a number of initiatives, but the scale and impact of its interventions remain modest when measured against Africa’s urgent development needs.
Ten of the AfDB’s Most Significant Projects
Here are ten of the largest projects it has co-financed in recent years:
- Inga III Hydropower Project (DR Congo)
Cost: $14 billion (AfDB: $100 million for feasibility studies)
A future 4,800 MW dam on the Congo River for DRC and Southern Africa. - Lagos-Abidjan Highway (West Africa)
Cost: $15.6 billion (AfDB: $3.5 billion)
A 1,028 km regional trade corridor connecting five West African nations. - Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (Tanzania)
Cost: $3 billion (AfDB: $1.5 billion)
A 2,115 MW dam on the Rufiji River—doubling Tanzania’s generation capacity. - Desert to Power Initiative (Sahel Region)
Cost: $20 billion (AfDB: $2 billion)
A solar energy program across 11 countries targeting 10,000 MW. - Mombasa-Nairobi-Addis Ababa Corridor (Kenya & Ethiopia)
Cost: $1.2 billion (AfDB: $670 million)
A key trade and transport route for Eastern Africa. - Souapiti Hydropower Plant (Guinea)
Cost: $2 billion (AfDB: $150 million)
A 450 MW hydro project to improve national and regional energy supply. - Ruzizi III Hydropower Project (DRC, Rwanda, Burundi)
Cost: $625 million (AfDB: $150 million)
A 147 MW cross-border hydroelectric plant in the Great Lakes region. - Diamniadio Urban Development (Senegal)
Cost: $1.4 billion (AfDB: $200 million)
A new city project near Dakar featuring housing, roads, and industry. - Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II (Lesotho & South Africa)
Cost: $2.8 billion (AfDB: $86 million)
A major water transfer and hydropower project benefiting both countries. - Ethiopia–Djibouti Railway Line
Cost: $4.5 billion (AfDB: $1.3 billion)
A 756 km electrified line connecting landlocked Ethiopia to a key port.
The Pattern: Co-Financing, Risk Aversion, and Modesty
Across these projects, one pattern emerges: AfDB is a junior co-financer, often contributing only a fraction of the total cost. Its approach is cautious and incremental, relying heavily on partnerships with the World Bank, China Exim Bank, and the EU. Energy and transport dominate its portfolio—rightly so—but the scale is simply not adequate for Africa’s explosive demographic and industrial needs.
Despite being the so-called “premier development finance institution” of the continent, the AfDB has never independently funded a single $5 billion project, let alone a $10 billion or $50 billion one.
The Urgent Reality: Africa Needs $50–150 Billion Projects Now
Africa’s current installed energy capacity is just 250 GW for 1.4 billion people. Compare that with:
China (1.4 billion people): 1,800 GW
United States (350 million people): 1,200 GW
This energy deficit condemns the continent to stagnation, energy poverty, and stunted industrialization.
To double Africa’s energy capacity to 500 GW by 2040.
We need:
The Grand Inga Dam ($80 billion)
Four additional mega-power projects, each requiring $80 billion
The African Railway Triangle Network Master Plan(ARTNMP) by Century Rail ($150 billion+)
A Fiber optic cable laid along the proposed railway network.
Yet after 60 years, AfDB cannot even dream of delivering one of these alone.
The Conclusion is Unavoidable:
The AfDB’s development model is too slow, too small, and too risk-averse. It is not capable of delivering Africa’s 21st-century infrastructure revolution within a single generation. For a continent racing against time, this is an institutional failure of the highest order.
The Way Forward: A New Financial Imagination
If Africa is to leapfrog into a high-growth, sovereign-driven future, new African-led financing mechanisms must be urgently pursued, including:
Diaspora bonds and private capital mobilization
Continental capital markets
Sovereign wealth fund coalitions
Alternative multilateral banks rooted in Pan-African ideology
We cannot afford to wait another 60 years for slow, symbolic projects and secondhand dreams. The time for bold, sovereign, and massive African-led investment is now.
Kwame Gonza
ACUP Member | Pan-Africanist
