Africa Team Roundtable in Malabo sets the pace for a continent-wide “One Africa Investment Framework”

The high-level Africa Team Roundtable, held on 12 July 2025 at the Sipopo Conference Centre in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, brought together senior African Union (AU) officials, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), development-finance leaders and private-sector partners to agree the next steps in joint resource mobilization for Agenda 2063’s Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan. Convened on the sidelines of the 7th Mid-Year Coordination Meeting (MYCM), the event signaled a decisive shift away from fragmented development efforts toward a single continental investment interface.

Why the Roundtable mattered

• Africa Team as the AU’s new delivery engine – Endorsed by the AU Assembly in February 2025 (Decision 922 XXXVIII) as the “principal mechanism” for financing the STYIP “Moonshots”, Africa Team unifies national, regional and continental priorities in sectors ranging from infrastructure and food systems to digital transformation.
• Budgetary urgency – Ministers meeting in Malabo for the 47th Executive Council highlighted chronic funding gaps and called for a “unified approach” to continental integration—an appeal echoed in the Roundtable’s push for pooled finance and blended-risk instruments.
• Alignment with the AU’s 2025 Theme of the Year – The discussion took place as the Union pursues “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations,” adding moral weight to calls for fair, inclusive development finance.

Voices from the floor

PAP President: a call for equity and value-chain thinking

H.E. Chief Fortune Charumbira warned that Africa Team must “not suffer the same fate” as earlier mechanisms that bred perceptions of unequal benefits. He urged the platform to “ensure development initiatives are equitable and that benefits accrue to every Member State,” and to extend coordination “across the entire value chain—from conception to disposal.”

AUC Chairperson: from donor dependency to ownership

Chairperson H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf told delegates it is “time to shift from fragmented efforts to harmonised delivery … Together we can unlock the Africa we want—resilient, prosperous and self-reliant.”

IGAD Executive Secretary: a continental declaration

Dr Workneh Gebeyehu hailed the meeting as proof that “the time for fragmented approaches has come to an end,” stressing that Africa Team “de-risks investment through political endorsement and coordinated frameworks.”

What was agreed

Participants closed the roundtable by rallying around three concrete deliverables. First, they endorsed a High-Level Declaration that formally designates Africa Team as the African Union’s single investment interface and obliges Member States, Regional Economic Communities and AU organs to coordinate their programmes through it. Second, they approved an Africa Team Roadmap – Phase II, a time-bound plan that sets immediate milestones for aligning partner priorities, curating a bankable project pipeline and putting robust monitoring and accountability mechanisms in place to sustain momentum. Finally, they launched a drive for partner commitments, inviting development-finance institutions, multilateral banks, private investors and philanthropic actors to register expressions of interest that range from technical assistance and co-financing to blended-finance instruments, with a consolidated summary of pledges to be annexed to the meeting’s communiqué.

Programme snapshot

The side event ran from 10:30 to 12:30 local time and was co-hosted by the Government of Equatorial Guinea and AUDA-NEPAD. Participants included the AUC Deputy Chairperson, CEOs of continental agencies, ministers of foreign affairs, and representatives of Standard Bank, Afreximbank and the Africa50 fund.

Context within the Mid-Year Coordination Week

The Roundtable’s outcomes dovetail with the Executive Council’s deliberations (10–11 July) on scaling up the AU budget and accelerating treaty ratifications, and feed directly into the Heads-of-State segment of the MYCM on 13 July.

Looking ahead

1. Integration with AfCFTA corridors – Africa Team’s deal pipeline will prioritise projects that unlock continental trade routes and regional value chains, reinforcing the AfCFTA’s objectives.
2. Accountability loop – AUDA-NEPAD will issue quarterly dashboards tracking disbursements, impact metrics and gender-responsive outcomes.
3. Legislative oversight – The Pan-African Parliament will use its upcoming Fifth Ordinary Session to scrutinise Africa Team financing instruments and ensure equitable distribution, in line with President Charumbira’s pledge of “One Africa, One Voice.”
4. Private-sector catalysis – Early-stage de-risking tools and blended-finance windows are expected to be unveiled before the February 2026 AU Summit.

Why it matters

With Africa’s population projected to hit 3 billion by 2063, the continent needs an estimated US $180 billion annually for infrastructure alone. Africa Team’s promise lies in aggregating that demand into investable, politically endorsed packages—moving from “pilot projects” to scaled solutions that can meet Agenda 2063’s Moonshot ambitions.

As the MYCM concludes, the Malabo Roundtable stands out as a practical demonstration of continental unity—transforming slogans of integration into bankable pipelines and measurable impact.