Established in 2024, AAMFI was created to bring together African-owned and African-controlled multilateral financial institutions. Its core mission is to enhance collaboration, coordination, and strategic alignment among its members in order to support sustainable economic development and accelerate regional integration across the continent.
BOAD’s admission was one of the key highlights of the Alliance’s ninth Council meeting. As a leading development finance institution within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the Lomé-based bank plays a pivotal role in financing infrastructure, energy, agriculture, and private sector development across West Africa. Its entry into AAMFI significantly broadens the Alliance’s regional coverage, particularly within the WAEMU zone, while reinforcing its operational capabilities in priority sectors. BOAD brings recognized expertise in project structuring, blended finance, and the mobilization of both concessional and commercial funding.
The bank joins the Regional Maritime Development Bank (MRDM), which was also admitted, further strengthening the institutional depth of the Alliance.
A coordinated response to Africa’s infrastructure financing gap
This institutional convergence comes at a time when Africa’s annual infrastructure financing needs amount to tens of billions of dollars. In this context, closer cooperation among African multilateral lenders is increasingly viewed as a strategic tool to optimize resources, enhance leverage effects, and reduce fragmentation in development finance. AAMFI now brings together several major players in Africa’s development finance ecosystem, including: (Afreximbank), Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB), African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI), Shelter Afrique Development Bank, ZEP-RE, East African Development Bank (EADB) and Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA). Collectively, these institutions manage assets exceeding $70 billion. Their activities span trade finance, infrastructure investment, political and commercial risk insurance, and development funding across strategic sectors.
The Alliance’s overarching objective is to build a more integrated and resilient African financial architecture capable of delivering homegrown solutions to the continent’s development challenges, while reducing reliance on external capital flows.
Leadership transition within the alliance
During the same Council session, the Board appointed Dr. Corneille Karekezi, Group Managing Director and CEO of the African Reinsurance Corporation, as the new Chair of AAMFI. He succeeds Samaila Zubairu, President and CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation, who had led the Alliance since its establishment in 2024. This leadership transition comes at a pivotal time, as African institutions seek to strengthen coordination, scale up financing capacity, and enhance the effectiveness of development interventions amid growing demands for industrialization, energy transition, and deeper regional integration.
