At the recently concluded 2025 African Development Bank Annual Meetings representatives of African countries, multilateral development banks, institutions, and private sector leaders engaged in lively discussions about the successes, challenges and key principles related to designing and strengthening national and regional platforms.
During a panel session held Thursday 29 May as part of South Africa's G20 presidency, the discussion focused on the need to develop ambitious national platforms to enable the continent's countries to harness further financing, standardise their policies and improve cooperation between governments, multilateral development banks, financial institutions and private sector companies.
The participants stressed the need for multilateral development banks and development finance institutions to work together more effectively to increase the accessibility, efficiency and responsiveness of their operations. This would require a significant shift from project-based to programme-based approaches, better integration of funding, policy and technical assistance, and enhanced general coordination at national and institutional level.
"The experience of South Africa, which implemented a platform based on a just energy transition, decarbonisation and an economic system geared towards inclusive social development over the period 2022-2028, has taught us three things: the need for strong national leadership, the building of trust with economic and social actors, and the importance of financial innovation tools," said Neil Cole, an expert in public finance and climate financing, who moderated the session.
Cole explained that the platforms, with their robust institutional coherence, were being propelled forward by the South African presidency and were supported by a Presidential Climate Commission. "The objective is clear: to include climate issues in national development policies and attract long-term private financing," he said.
Yussuf Hussein, Climate Finance Advisor to the President of Kenya, presented his country's strategy, which is centred on structuring a coherent investment framework capable of catalysing all available levers, from traditional partners to philanthropic organisations. "Our challenge is to coordinate efforts, structure commitments and balance expectations between the public and private sectors," said Hussein. Kenya intends to learn from the experiences of countries such as Egypt, Indonesia and Senegal, which have already embarked upon this path.
In the opinion of the panellists, national ownership is a prerequisite for effective national and regional platforms. In fact, where platforms have led to sustainable and inclusive development, they have required strong leadership, coordination between stakeholders and, more importantly, tangible commitments from multilateral, bilateral and private financial actors.
Christophe Rauh, Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), emphasised the importance of partner country ownership in ensuring aid effectiveness. "It's not enough to wait for backers," he stated. "Countries have to feel they own the projects. Otherwise, their efforts will not be sustainable." He also stressed the need for greater transparency, open communication, and clarified expectations between partners: "The country platform is a demanding exercise, but it enables bilateral, multilateral and national initiatives to be aligned around a common project."
For Avinash Persaud, Economic and Financial Advisor at the Inter-American Development Bank, institutional coherence is the key to the success of national platforms. Pointing to "well-known evils" in Southern countries, such as the lack of coordination between ministries and institutions, he explained that "within the same country, one ministry may promote a project while another opposes a regulatory constraint." Persaud went on to assert that a country platform must ensure consistency between regulations, economic incentives and national priorities. He also highlighted the importance of currency hedging to attract international capital.
Alain Ebobissé, Chief Executive Officer of Africa50, called for massive investment in project readiness and development in order to have bankable projects that could appeal to the private sector. He illustrated his point with the success of the Benban solar power programme in Egypt, and renewable energy projects in South Africa. "We need to invest in the initial phases of project development - it's at this critical stage that their bankability is at stake."
Africa50 actively supports the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa (AGIA), launched in partnership with the African Development Bank and the African Union, and has called for more ambitious harnessing of resources to enhance country platforms.
All the panellists agreed on the need to step up dialogue on standardising public and private financing.
Closing the discussions, Nnenna Nwabufo, the African Development Bank Group's Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, made the point that Africa needs more capital for sustainable and inclusive development, but the problem also lies in the fact that some countries do not take ownership of their country platforms.
"It's often tricky to work with certain governments," she said. "When countries don't set their priorities, it becomes difficult to secure resources for them. If their projects aren't ready, there's not much we can do." She then called on all parties to "put their shoulders to the wheel".
Nwabufo also indicated that the African Development Bank was ready to support countries and regions in building robust development platforms capable of attracting financing from the private sector and multilateral institutions.
"The African Development Bank is committed to using its knowledge to support countries and design integrated platforms with them," she continued. "Country platforms aligned with national development objectives get the support they need. The examples show that resources from the private sector will be forthcoming if public sector coordination is ensured."
