Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) (www.AfricaFC.org), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, today signed a series of strategic cooperation agreements with leading Italian partners at the AFC–Italy Business Forum in Rome, marking a significant step in translating Italy–Africa cooperation into bankable projects, scalable financing solutions and long-term industrial partnerships across Africa.
The forum brought together senior representatives from government, including Deputy Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy, Valentino Valentini, and Director General of the Treasury, Riccardo Barbieri Hermitte, development finance institutions, industry, investors and project sponsors to strengthen Africa–Italy cooperation and advance the objectives of Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa. As part of the strategic forum’s key outcomes, several agreements were signed with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP), SACE, Confindustria Assafrica&Mediterraneo and IMAGRO S.p.A., to establish a framework for enhanced collaboration across infrastructure financing, export credit support, project preparation, industrial procurement, business matchmaking and private sector participation in AFC-supported projects throughout Africa.
The partnerships align with the objectives of Italy’s Mattei Plan and bring together AFC’s infrastructure development mandate, African project pipeline and risk-mitigation capabilities with Italy’s development finance, export credit instruments, industrial networks and private sector capabilities. Together, the institutions will work to mobilise capital and accelerate investment across key sectors including power and renewable energy, transport and logistics, critical minerals, natural resources, heavy industry, manufacturing, technology-enabled infrastructure and regional trade corridors.
The agreements build on a growing partnership between AFC and Italian institutions. Over the last few years, CDP has provided facilities totalling EUR400M to AFC, including a EUR250 million loan in 2025, supported by an 80% guarantee from SACE. These transactions reinforce the institutions’ confidence in AFC’s ability to deliver high-impact infrastructure projects across the continent, with particular focus on the Lobito Corridor. The new cooperation frameworks expand that relationship beyond traditional development cooperation to commercially viable infrastructure and industrial projects that can deliver long-term economic competitiveness, supply chain resilience and shared prosperity.
Samaila Zubairu, President and CEO of AFC, said, “The AFC–Italy Business Forum was established to move beyond dialogue and create practical pathways for investment and industrial cooperation between Africa and Italy, and the agreements signed today demonstrate that commitment in action. By combining AFC’s project development expertise and investment pipeline with Italy’s financial, industrial and technological strengths, we are creating the partnerships needed to mobilise capital, reduce investment risk and accelerate industrial development across Africa. These collaborations will help transform opportunities into bankable projects that strengthen value chains, create jobs and support sustainable economic growth across the continent.”
Lorenzo Ortona, National Deputy Coordinator of the Mattei Plan, said “The Mattei Plan was created to build an equal partnership with African countries, grounded in concrete projects and shared benefits. Our collaboration with Africa Finance Corporation fully embodies this spirit: over these years, AFC has proven to be a reliable and capable partner, able to translate the Plan’s ambitions into bankable initiatives and real investments that benefit both African economies and the Italian system. I wish to thank AFC for the work we have accomplished together, which has made it possible to mobilise capital, share risk and open new opportunities for Italian companies along strategic value chains – from infrastructure to energy, from critical raw materials to trade corridors. The agreements signed today consolidate a journey already underway and strengthen the economic ties between Italy and the African continent. I am confident that this synergy between the Italian system and AFC can only continue to grow, generating investment, employment and shared prosperity on both shores of the Mediterranean.”
Under the agreement with CDP, AFC and Italy’s development finance institution will explore opportunities for co-financing strategic projects, future funding arrangements, project preparation initiatives and collaboration with both African and Italian enterprises. The partnership will also support the identification and development of bankable projects across priority sectors including infrastructure, energy, water, environmental protection, natural resources, agriculture, food security and manufacturing.
Giovanni Gorno Tempini, President of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, said: “The agreements signed today mark a significant step in advancing a new phase of partnership between Italy and Africa, reflecting a broader shift introduced by the Mattei Plan towards long-term, mutually beneficial cooperation based on shared priorities and industrial development. As Italy’s National Promotional Institution and Development Finance Institution, CDP plays a central role in delivering this vision, mobilising financial resources and instruments to support transformative investment programmes across the continent. By renewing the partnership with Africa Finance Corporation, we are strengthening our capacity to co-develop projects, expand co-financing opportunities and connect African and Italian enterprises from an early stage, helping to make investments more robust, bankable and attractive to private capital, and ultimately contributing to sustainable growth and shared prosperity.”
The cooperation framework with SACE, Italy’s export credit agency, will focus on leveraging guarantees, credit enhancement tools, export credit support and risk-sharing mechanisms to crowd in investment and facilitate greater participation by Italian companies in African infrastructure and industrial projects.
Michele Pignotti, CEO of SACE, said: “SACE is the leading Export Credit Agency per new Commitments in Africa, with over 6.4 billion mobilised across the continent since the launch of the Mattei Plan for Africa. Partnering with AFC is fundamental to unlock the full potential of Italy-Africa trade&investments. Together, we aim to facilitate the participation of Italian companies in the continent’s most strategic projects, spanning transport corridors, energy infrastructure, industrial development and critical raw materials value chains. Our agreement creates a framework that allows us to identify opportunities in advance, mobilise capital more effectively and generate stronger synergies between our respective instruments and capabilities.”
AFC also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Confindustria Assafrica&Mediterraneo, the organisation that supports the internationalisation of Italian companies in Africa, the Middle East and Turkey. The agreement will strengthen engagement between African project sponsors and Italian businesses through business missions, investment promotion activities, matchmaking initiatives, conferences and knowledge-sharing platforms designed to increase private sector participation in AFC projects.
Enrico Maria Bagnasco, President of Confindustria Assafrica&Mediterraneo, said: ”The collaboration with Africa Finance Corporation is an opportunity to support a stronger and more effective Italian presence in Africa. The Memorandum of Understanding we signed today with AFC is an important step in this direction. It gives our cooperation a more structured basis and can help strengthen the link between AFC and Italian industry, opening new project opportunities and supporting the involvement of Italian companies in Africa’s infrastructure development.”
As AFC continues to expand its network of strategic partnerships with development finance institutions, export credit agencies and industrial stakeholders around the world, the Corporation remains committed to mobilising the capital, expertise and partnerships required to build resilient infrastructure, advance industrialisation and unlock Africa’s long-term economic potential.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
Media Enquiries:
Yewande Thorpe
Communications
Africa Finance Corporation
Mobile : +234 1 279 9654
Email : yewande.thorpe@africafc.org
About AFC:
AFC was established in 2007 to be the catalyst for pragmatic infrastructure and industrial investments across Africa. AFC’s approach combines specialist industry expertise with a focus on financial and technical advisory, project structuring, project development, and risk capital to address Africa’s infrastructure development needs and drive sustainable economic growth.
Nineteen years on, AFC has developed a track record as the partner of choice in Africa for investing and delivering on instrumental, high-quality infrastructure assets that provide essential services in the core infrastructure sectors of energy, natural resources, heavy industry, transport, and telecommunications. AFC has 48 member countries and has invested over US$19 billion in 36 African countries since its inception.
