The African Development Bank is set to become the largest shareholder in the Nairobi-based African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI) through a planned $125 million investment aimed at expanding the use of guarantees to attract private capital into African infrastructure and development projects. The move forms part of the bank’s broader strategy to reduce investment risk and unlock new sources of financing for the continent.
According to Reuters and MarketScreener, the investment will increase the bank’s stake in ATIDI from 3% to 14%, making it the institution’s largest shareholder. The initiative is linked to the New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD), a framework designed to mobilise an estimated $4 trillion in African institutional capital, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and savings pools, to help bridge Africa’s annual development financing gap of roughly $400 billion.
ATIDI, which has spent the past 25 years providing guarantees and political risk insurance across Africa, currently supports about $3 billion in investments annually. AfDB plans to help scale that figure substantially, with a target of expanding guarantees to $10 billion per year to accelerate financing for infrastructure, energy, transport, and industrial projects across the continent.
The development comes as African governments and financial institutions increasingly seek homegrown solutions to declining international aid flows and rising borrowing costs. Reuters says stronger guarantee mechanisms could lower perceived investment risks, reduce the cost of capital, and attract more private-sector participation in projects critical to Africa’s long-term growth and economic transformation.
