The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) have signed a $20 million joint project preparation facility agreement to accelerate infrastructure development across Southern Africa.
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) have signed a Joint Project Preparation Facility (JPPF) Framework Agreement committing up to $20 million to develop high-impact, trade-enabling infrastructure and industrial projects across South Africa and the wider Southern African region.
Under the terms of the agreement, each development finance institution will contribute up to $10 million toward the facility.
The joint initiative is specifically designed to tackle early-stage planning bottlenecks that often prevent large-scale African infrastructure ideas from securing commercial funding and reaching execution. While the framework will focus initially on South Africa and the Southern African region, it includes scope to consider projects in other African jurisdictions where both institutions share mutual strategic interests.
A major hurdle facing African development is not merely a shortage of available investment capital, but a critical shortage of projects prepared to the rigorous technical, financial and legal standards required by international lenders and private investors.
The newly established facility directly addresses this “bankability” constraint by funding and supporting essential technical feasibility studies, financial modeling, legal preparation work, and risk assessments needed to move priority concepts to investment readiness.
Targeted priority sectors include power and energy with a strong focus on energy transition initiatives transport and logistics, information and communication technology (ICT) and strategic minerals beneficiation along with other mutually agreed sectors aligned with national and continental development goals.
The agreement represents one of the first major operational instruments launched following South Africa’s official accession to the Afreximbank Establishment Agreement in February 2026, when the nation became the bank’s 54th member state alongside the announcement of an $8 billion Country Programme for South Africa.
The JPPF complements a Master Risk Participation Agreement signed between Afreximbank and DBSA in February 2026, extending their institutional collaboration upstream into the project preparation phase.
Furthermore, the initiative aligns with South Africa’s National Development Plan 2030, regional integration under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and trade execution under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Mrs. Kanayo Awani, Executive Vice President of Intra-African Trade and Export Development at Afreximbank emplained that combining Afreximbank’s trade and industrialization mandate with DBSA’s infrastructure expertise creates a practical tool to turn project preparation into a vehicle for export growth and regional integration.
Echoing this perspective, Gregory Fyfe, Chief Investment Officer at DBSA noted that the joint facility will strengthen the pipeline of investable projects, unlock new investment opportunities, and accelerate infrastructure delivery to foster long-term economic growth.
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Under the framework, Afreximbank and DBSA will actively collaborate across project origination, screening, prioritization, preparation, knowledge sharing and portfolio monitoring.
Once projects are fully prepared and vetted through the facility, they may seek downstream debt or equity financing from Afreximbank and DBSA with each funding decision remaining subject to separate appraisal and approval by potential financiers. Matured projects will also be presented to private investors, other development finance institutions, and commercial lenders, creating a clear pathway to mobilize larger pools of public, private and blended capital required for implementation.
