Afreximbank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) have created a new project preparation facility aimed at turning major infrastructure and industrial ideas in Southern Africa into investment-ready projects.
Under the Joint Project Preparation Facility (JPPF), each institution can contribute up to US$10 million, creating a potential US$20 million pool to support the technical, financial and legal work needed to take projects from concept to bankability.
The initiative is expected to focus initially on South Africa and the wider Southern African region, with priority areas including energy, transport and logistics, information and communication technology, strategic minerals beneficiation and other sectors linked to regional development and trade.
The facility comes as South Africa deepens its relationship with Afreximbank. The country joined the Afreximbank Establishment Agreement in February 2026, becoming the bank’s 54th member state. At the time, Afreximbank also announced an US$8 billion Country Programme for South Africa.
The new agreement builds on a broader partnership between the two development finance institutions. In February, Afreximbank and DBSA signed a Master Risk Participation Agreement, which focused on supporting financing. The JPPF extends that collaboration further upstream by addressing one of the challenges that often prevents projects from reaching the financing stage: inadequate project preparation.
Through the facility, Afreximbank and DBSA will jointly identify, assess and prioritise projects before supporting the work required to make them suitable for potential financing.
The institutions say the initiative will support projects that strengthen trade, industrialisation and regional connectivity, while contributing to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the integration objectives of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Turning project ideas into investment opportunities
Large infrastructure projects can struggle to attract financing when feasibility studies, financial models, legal structures and other preparatory work are incomplete. The JPPF is designed to address these gaps before projects approach lenders and investors.
Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President for Intra-African Trade and Export Development, Kanayo Awani, said the challenge facing Africa’s infrastructure development is not simply a lack of capital, but also a shortage of projects that are sufficiently prepared for investment.
“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,” Awani said.
She added that combining Afreximbank’s focus on trade and industrialisation with DBSA’s infrastructure expertise could help move priority projects from concept to investment readiness and attract public, private and blended finance.
For DBSA, the facility is intended to strengthen the pipeline of bankable infrastructure and industrial projects.
DBSA Chief Investment Officer Gregory Fyfe said the partnership would leverage the complementary capabilities of the two institutions to improve project preparation and unlock investment opportunities.
The facility will initially concentrate on South Africa and Southern Africa, although the framework allows the partners to consider projects in other African markets where there is mutual strategic interest.
Focus on energy, logistics and strategic minerals
Energy is expected to be a key area of activity, particularly projects linked to the region’s energy transition. Transport and logistics infrastructure will also be prioritised, reflecting the importance of efficient regional connectivity to trade and industrial development.
The inclusion of strategic minerals beneficiation could also support efforts to move more value-added processing into Africa rather than exporting minerals primarily in raw form.
ICT infrastructure and other mutually agreed sectors will also be eligible where projects align with national, regional and continental development priorities.
Projects developed through the facility could subsequently seek financing from Afreximbank or DBSA, although such funding would remain subject to separate assessment and approval. Projects may also be presented to commercial lenders, private investors and other development finance institutions.
The two institutions will collaborate on project origination, preparation, knowledge-sharing and portfolio monitoring as projects move towards implementation.
The partnership therefore places greater emphasis on the stage before financing—where project concepts are assessed, structured and developed into opportunities that can attract the capital needed to build infrastructure, expand industrial capacity and strengthen regional trade.
