The European Investment Bank’s Global Forum on March 13, 2026, featured a warning from Dr. Hubert Danso, CEO and chairman of Africa Investor Group, about the continent’s industrial development. According to his remarks, the primary obstacle is not a lack of capital but an investability gap—a disconnect between available funds and the conditions needed to attract private investment. The forum took place as part of the €300 billion Global Gateway initiative, which aims to mobilize European financing for global projects.
Danso emphasized that global institutional investors manage over $300 trillion in assets, yet Africa’s development finance system only directs between $0.20 and $0.38 of private capital for every dollar of public funding. “Capital does not move because development is persuasive,” Dr. Danso told the Forum. “It moves when development becomes investable.” He contrasted Africa’s current gap with European instruments, which, as noted by Council of the European Union President António Costa, have demonstrated the potential to mobilize up to €15 for every €1 of public capital invested.
To address the gap, he called for two key measures. First, expanding access to Global Emerging Markets risk data would help large portfolios meet transparency requirements, reducing barriers for institutional investors. Second, closer collaboration between the Global Gateway, the European Investment Bank, the European Commission, and private investors could create scalable, bankable asset classes. Such partnerships would align public and private funding, ensuring projects meet investor standards.
