At the Luanda Infrastructure Financing Summit, AfDB underscored corridors, PAIDA, and AfCFTA as foundations for a connected and industrialized continent.
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has reaffirmed its commitment to building a connected, industrialized, and inclusive Africa by advancing infrastructure investment, regional integration, and more effective policy-making. This message was delivered by Joy Kategekwa, Director of the Bank Group’s Regional Integration Coordination Office, at the third Luanda Financing Summit for Africa’s Infrastructure Development.
Luanda Summit Sets the Stage for Infrastructure-Led Transformation
Held in Angola’s capital, the summit gathered policymakers, development partners, and private sector leaders under the theme “Capital, Corridors, Trade: Investing in Infrastructure for the AfCFTA and Shared Prosperity.” The discussions focused on how infrastructure can unlock industrial potential under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Dignitaries in attendance included H.E. João Lourenço, President of Angola; Kamel Abdel Hady Farag Al-Wazir, Egypt’s Minister of Transport; Rui Miguêns de Oliveira, Angola’s Minister of Economy and Planning; and senior representatives from AUDA-NEPAD.
Corridors as Catalysts: Spotlight on the Lobito Corridor
In a dedicated session on the Lobito Corridor, the route connecting Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Angola’s Atlantic coast, Kategekwa characterized it as “a prime example of the AfCFTA in action.”
She emphasized that modern trade corridors must integrate full value chains, noting: “The Lobito Corridor teaches us new ways to design trade corridors by looking beyond the backbone of transportation and focusing on integrating agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, and services value chains.”
She added that infrastructure alone is insufficient: “[Infrastructure] is not self-executing. We must ensure institutional frameworks activate the intended outcomes that people, governance, and finance move together to realize Africa’s industrial dream.”
Financing Industrialization Through PAIDA
At a High-Level Dialogue on financing the Programme for Accelerated Industrialisation Development in Africa (PAIDA), Kategekwa urged the alignment of manufacturing and production systems with regional markets.
Sectors cited as strong opportunities included automobiles, lithium-ion batteries, leather, textiles, soya, and cocoa. The session concluded with commitments to expand financing for special economic zones, green industrial facilities, and export facilitation platforms, alongside the launch of a new PAIDA Investment Dialogue Platform.
Corridors and Integration: Engines of Shared Growth
Speaking in a session on regional corridors, Kategekwa reiterated that efficient corridors are essential to connecting production hubs to markets. She noted challenges such as high logistics costs, inefficient border procedures, and unreliable energy, and argued: “Holistic corridor development offers a solution – one that lowers trade costs, expands value chains, and promotes inclusive, climate-smart growth.”
The AfDB approach integrates transport, energy, and digital connectivity with trade facilitation and enterprise support to ensure corridors become engines of prosperity.
A Strategic Call for a Made-in-Africa Market
Kategekwa concluded with a clear message: “What enters the AfCFTA door must be goods and services made in Africa. That is how we turn trade corridors into engines of industrialization and deliver shared prosperity for all Africans.”
The AfDB delegation included Pietro Toigo, Country Manager for Angola; Joel Daniel Muzima, Country Economist for Angola; and Mike Salawou, Director for Infrastructure Cities and Urban Development, who participated virtually.
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