Egypt earmarks $500bn to finance 300 projects across Africa

Egypt has proposed a $500 billion “Team Africa” financing initiative to support nearly 300 development projects across the continent, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty announced on behalf of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. The package, presented at a steering committee meeting of the African Union Development Agency (NEPAD), is intended to bridge Africa’s financing gap and tackle entrenched challenges including poverty, unemployment, and food and energy insecurity as part of NEPAD’s second ten‑year implementation framework under the African Union’s Agenda 2063 blueprint.

“Team Africa” would bring together governments, development institutions, and private capital to fund high‑priority projects across the continent, Abdelatty said.

Context and institutional reforms

Egypt, which has chaired NEPAD’s steering committee since February 2023, used its tenure to restructure the agency and accelerate resource mobilisation. Abdelatty told the steering committee that NEPAD has passed the European Union’s “nine pillars” institutional assessment — a benchmark described in the meeting as critical for unlocking broader international funding. As a result of recent mobilisation efforts, NEPAD’s budget has increased to more than $300 million.

Alongside the headline $500 billion proposal, Cairo highlighted a package of targeted commitments and institutional proposals designed to provide sustainable funding channels and resilience measures:

• Egypt pledged $100 million in seed funding for Nile Basin projects focused on water, food, and energy.
• An additional $100 million has been secured to bolster public health systems, digital economy initiatives, and agricultural development under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme.
• Egypt proposed establishing a dedicated Development Fund under NEPAD to provide a sustainable financing mechanism for long‑term projects.
• Cairo announced plans to host a continental Centre of Excellence for Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Change.

The meeting concluded with a recommendation to extend NEPAD’s executive leadership and plans for Egypt to host an African Business Summit later this year to accelerate public‑private investment and strengthen ties among governments, financiers and the private sector. Abdelatty framed the financing push as part of a broader strategy linking peace, security and development, with updates planned for the African Union’s post‑conflict reconstruction framework and deeper cooperation with Cairo‑based institutions.

Outlook

The proposal comes as Egypt prepares to hand over NEPAD’s steering committee leadership to Angolan President João Lourenço. Implementation will hinge on converting the $500 billion target into actionable commitments from governments, multilateral institutions and private investors, and on NEPAD’s ability to turn the proposed Development Fund and summit into concrete investment pipelines. The initiative’s success will also depend on sustaining momentum after the leadership transition and on leveraging the EU institutional assessment to unlock further international capital, officials said.

The story was reported by Segun Adeyemi for Business Insider Africa.