CAIRO — The African Export-Import Bank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa have established a joint project preparation facility that could provide up to $20 million to help develop infrastructure and industrial projects in South Africa and the wider Southern African region.
Under the Joint Project Preparation Facility framework agreement, each institution can contribute up to $10 million toward technical, financial and legal work needed to take high-impact projects from the concept stage to investment readiness.
The initiative is designed to address one of the major obstacles to infrastructure development in Africa: a shortage of projects that are sufficiently prepared to attract financing from investors and lenders.
“Africa’s infrastructure challenge is not only about shortage of capital; it is also about shortage of projects prepared to the standard required by investors and lenders,” Kanayo Awani, Afreximbank’s executive vice president for intra-African trade and export development, said.
“This JPPF addresses this critical constraint,” Awani said. “By combining Afreximbank’s trade and industrialisation mandate with DBSA’s infrastructure-development expertise, we will help move priority projects from concept to investment readiness and mobilise the larger pools of public, private and blended finance required for implementation.”
The agreement was signed by Awani on behalf of Afreximbank and Gregory Fyfe, DBSA’s chief investment officer, on behalf of the South African development bank.
The facility will allow the institutions to jointly originate, screen and prioritize projects while supporting the technical, financial and legal studies required to make projects bankable.
Priority areas include power and energy, particularly energy-transition projects; transport and logistics; information and communication technology; strategic minerals beneficiation; and other sectors agreed by the two institutions.
The initial focus will be South Africa and the broader Southern African region, although the framework allows the partners to consider projects in other African countries where there is mutual strategic interest.
“The Joint Project Preparation Facility represents a significant step towards strengthening the pipeline of bankable infrastructure and industrial projects across South Africa and the Southern African region,” Fyfe said.
“Through this partnership with Afreximbank, we are leveraging our complementary strengths to improve project preparation. This will unlock investment opportunities and accelerate the delivery of infrastructure that supports economic growth, industrialisation and regional integration,” he said.
The agreement is among the first operational initiatives to follow South Africa’s accession to the Afreximbank Establishment Agreement in February 2026. South Africa became the bank’s 54th member state at the time, and Afreximbank announced an $8 billion country program for the country.
The new facility builds on a Master Risk Participation Agreement signed by Afreximbank and DBSA in February, extending their cooperation from project financing into project preparation.
The partnership also supports South Africa’s National Development Plan 2030, regional integration through the Southern African Development Community and implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Afreximbank said projects developed through the facility could subsequently seek financing from the two institutions, as well as private investors, development finance institutions and commercial lenders. Any such financing would remain subject to separate appraisal and approval.
The two institutions will also collaborate on project origination, preparation, knowledge sharing and portfolio monitoring as projects progress toward financing and implementation.
“This initiative reflects DBSA’s commitment to infrastructure-led development and to enabling sustainable, long-term impact through well-prepared projects that attract both public and private sector investment,” Fyfe said.
Afreximbank said the facility is intended to support trade-enabling infrastructure, industrial development and export-oriented projects while helping mobilize additional public and private capital for the region.
Awani said the initiative could help turn project preparation into a practical tool for industrial development and regional integration.
“For South Africa and the wider Southern Africa region, this is how project preparation becomes a practical instrument for industrialisation, export growth and regional integration under the AfCFTA,” she said.
SUPPORT AFRICAN BUSINESS JOURNALISM
Help XOL Africa expand independent business reporting across Africa.
SUPPORT XOL AFRICA →
