SWAZI TSHABALALA: Lift Africa — infrastructure is strategy

Infrastructure is not a sector — it is a strategy. It is how Africa powers factories, connects farmers, scales innovation and competes globally. Without it, no other priority moves. 

This is why large-scale, integrated infrastructure anchors the first pillar of my LiFT Africa agenda — my strategic vision to leverage infrastructure, financial innovation and institutional transformation to transform the African Development Bank (AfDB).

For me, this is not one of many priorities. It is the starting point of sovereignty, agency and inclusive growth. And in a moment where global capital is cautious and development timelines are tightening, the cost of delay is no longer just economic — it is generational.

Africa’s $100bn annual infrastructure gap is well known. But the deeper issue is that we continue to treat infrastructure as a downstream need, rather than a catalytic investment. Without reliable electricity, ports, roads and digital access, no farmer scales, no factory ships and no young innovator connects to a global market. Today, just 43% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa have access to electricity. That must change — not eventually, but urgently.

Infrastructure is not just an input — it is a multiplier. It amplifies agency. It expands what people and economies can do. A mango farmer in northern Ivory Coast with access to cold storage can reach European markets. A secondary school in rural Kenya with stable broadband can stream science courses and launch future engineers. A city with reliable transit can grow beyond its core, connecting workers to opportunity and entrepreneurs to customers.

This is how we unlock Africa’s demographic dividend. This is how we give regional trade real traction. And this is how we drive a green industrial transformation, with clean energy powering value chains and logistics systems that are built to last. But vision without capital remains theory. Public budgets alone cannot meet the scale of demand. That is why the second pillar of my LiFT Africa strategy — a catalytic AfDB — focuses on financial innovation and private sector development. 

The bank must do more than fund projects; it must unlock ecosystems. We will scale blended finance, expand risk-sharing instruments and deepen support for regional investment platforms. During my tenure as CFO and senior vice-president, we introduced tools like synthetic securitisation and hybrid capital to stretch public funds and boost investor confidence. That mindset — of discipline, innovation and leverage — must define how the AfDB engages markets.

Across Africa our greatest untapped resource is not just potential, it is capital. Today, African pension funds and sovereign wealth institutions manage more than $400bn in assets. Yet much of this remains parked in low-yield assets abroad, even as infrastructure at home goes unfunded. The AfDB must help to unlock these pools — not by asking them to take more risk, but by structuring investments with the precision and discipline they require. 

Other regions have shown the way. In Southeast Asia, regional infrastructure platforms have successfully pooled public and private capital to fund cross-border connectivity. In India, digital public infrastructure has transformed everything from payments to procurement, creating scalable investable systems. And in Latin America pension reforms have helped channel domestic savings into long-term development with proper safeguards. 

Africa must do the same — on African terms. That means building trust, track records and tools. It also demands a step-change in execution. Development is not measured in plans — it is measured in delivery. Either the road is built, or it is not. Either the lights stay on, or they do not. 

This is the third pillar of my LiFT Africa vision: a powerful AfDB. It is about institutional transformation — a bank that is faster, more accountable and digitally enabled. That means cutting approval timelines in half, tracking delivery in real time, and embedding a culture of operational discipline. 

The AfDB’s credibility must rest not only on what it funds, but on the confidence it instils across the ecosystem — from local communities to global investors. At the same time, infrastructure must deliver more than roads or megawatts. It must be a platform for youth employment, women’s economic inclusion and climate resilience.

These are not secondary concerns — they are central to the long-term success of any investment. That is why my LiFT Africa strategy fully integrates these priorities while aligning with the African Continental Free Trade Area Agenda 2063 and the bank’s own 10-year strategy, across every project, platform and partnership.

Africa’s future will not be written by others. It will be built, by us. Infrastructure is not a checkbox; it is the engine of sovereignty, of sustainability, of shared prosperity. 

That is why it anchors my LiFT Africa vision. It is how we connect regions, unleash talent and move from potential to power. And it is how the AfDB under my leadership will deliver a new standard of transformational impact — visible, investable and African-led. 

• Tshabalala, a candidate for AfDB president, is a former senior vice-president and CFO of the bank.