DFI commitments by country
Although DFI commitments to the African regions appear evenly disbursed, when looking at the individual country allocations, the differences become starker. In Southern Africa, South Africa has the lion’s share of DFI commitments. Of the USD 8.6bn disbursed in the region (excludes AfDB and EIB as country breakdown not provided), almost USD 4.6bn (almost 70%) was disbursed to South Africa. This is over five times higher than that committed to Mozambique and seven times higher than that committed to Zambia, the two countries with the next most in DFI commitments. The high allocation to South Africa reflects the investable opportunities in South Africa, which has a much larger market.
It’s important to note that South Africa has three major local DFIs (not included in the data set), the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) and the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) that have disbursed more capital (USD 17.1bn) in Southern Africa than all the international DFIs combined (Source: GIIN).
In East Africa, investments in Kenya make up almost 50% of DFI commitments, followed by Ethiopia (19%), Uganda (17%) and Tanzania (14%). Together, these four countries account for 98% of DFI funding in the region. Kenya’s dominance in the region can be attributed to several significant investments into renewable energy projects in the country’s growing energy sector.
West Africa follows the same trend as the other regions with DFI investment concentrated in just two countries. Of the USD 10.7bn deployed (excludes AfDB,EIB and Proparco), Nigeria accounts for USD 4.3bn (40% of DFI commitments), and Ghana accounts for USD 3.9bn (36% of DFI commitments). The next highest recipients of DFI funding are the two francophone countries of Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, which account for 11% and 7% of DFI commitments, respectively.
In Central Africa, Cameroon, DRC and Chad make up 47%, 38% and 13% of the USD 1.6bn of DFI disbursements, respectively. While in North Africa, Egypt accounts for 64% (USD 3.2bn) of DFI commitments, followed by Morocco at 16% (USD 0.8bn) and Tunisia at 11% (USD 0.6bn).
Comparing Africa to its meaningful markets, in terms of the emerging markets, Brazil, China and Mexico attracted USD 4.1bn, USD 3.6bn and USD2.1bn, respectively. South Africa and Egypt attracted similar amounts in DFI commitments of USD 4.6bn and USD 3.2bn respectively. In the case of the meaningful frontier markets, Bangladesh and Jordan each received roughly USD 2.2bn in DFI disbursements, which is higher than the prominent African frontier markets of Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Cote d’Ivoire but significantly less than Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, which received USD 4.3bn, USD 3.9bn and USD 3.6bn, respectively.
Source: IFC, OPIC, CDC Group, FMO DEG Norfund, RisCura analysis
In the case of the meaningful frontier markets, Bangladesh and Jordan each received roughly USD 2.2bn in DFI disbursements, which is higher than the prominent African frontier markets of Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, and Cote d’Ivoire but significantly less than Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, which received USD 4.3bn, USD 3.9bn and USD 3.6bn, respectively.
Note: AFDB, EIB and Proparco excluded as they do not provide country breakdown of their
commitments.