Reference Library16 institutions · Snapshot 2026-06-02

African multilateral institutions, in one place.

Every continental and regional development bank, infrastructure platform, insurer, reinsurer, and payment system that shapes African development finance — with what each one does, where it gets the money, who owns it, and what the rating agencies say. Sourced from each institution's own disclosures plus the most-recent rating-agency affirmations.

Institutions covered

3 institutions.

The largest African MDBs by balance sheet — pan-continental in mandate, investment-grade by ratings, and the principal sources of long-term sovereign and project finance on the continent.

Continental development bank · Est. 1964

African Development Bank (AfDB)

Africa's flagship multilateral development bank — AAA-rated, 81 shareholders, lends to sovereigns and private sector across all 54 African countries.

HQ: Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire · www.afdb.org

Mandate: Contribute to the sustainable economic development and social progress of regional member countries — individually and jointly. Operates under the High 5 priorities: Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the quality of life of African people.
Where the money comes from: Three windows. (1) The Bank itself raises USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, AUD and other currency bonds on international capital markets, leveraging its AAA rating to borrow at near-sovereign cost and on-lend at modest spreads. (2) The African Development Fund (ADF) is the concessional window for low-income countries, replenished every three years by donor pledges. (3) The Nigeria Trust Fund. Shareholders subscribe to authorised capital in a 6% paid-up / 94% callable structure — paid-up cash backs lending today; callable capital is shareholders' legal commitment to inject more cash if ever needed to honour bondholders.
Scale: USD 318bn authorised capital after May 2026 increase (UA 240bn); USD 117bn callable capital increase approvedAs of 2026-05
Shareholders / members: 81 shareholders: 54 African (regional) member countries holding ~60% of voting power, and 27 non-African (non-regional) members. Largest non-regional shareholders include the United States, Japan, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, the UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and others.
Credit ratings: S&P AAA (Stable) · Moody's Aaa (Stable) · Fitch AAA (Stable) · JCR AAA (Stable)
Instruments: Sovereign loans at AfDB or ADF terms
Non-sovereign (private-sector) loans, equity, and quasi-equity
Lines of credit to African commercial banks
Partial credit and risk guarantees
Technical assistance grants
Trade finance
What it does in practice: Anchors long-term infrastructure financing across the continent — energy, transport, water, sanitation, regional integration corridors. Hosts the African Economic Outlook (joint with OECD), the African Natural Resources Centre, and the Africa Investment Forum. Through ADF it provides the concessional grants and ultra-low-rate loans that fund human-capital projects in the poorest member countries.
Recent activity (2026): Board of Governors approved a USD 117 billion General Callable Capital Increase in 2026, lifting authorised capital from USD 201 billion to USD 318 billion — a roughly 60% expansion of the Bank's lending firepower while preserving the AAA rating. The Annual Development Effectiveness Review 2026, themed 'Mobilising Africa's Development Financing at Scale,' was published the same year.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: AfDB is one of the largest external creditors to the Kenyan public sector and the single largest multilateral lender to many African states. Its Country Strategy Papers shape the project pipeline that eventually appears in national budget books. Its rating is what allows the Bank to borrow at sovereign-like spreads and pass that low cost through to African borrowers.

Continental development bank · Est. 1993

African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)

Pan-African trade-finance bank — the largest provider of trade credit on the continent and the operator of PAPSS.

HQ: Cairo, Egypt · www.afreximbank.com

Mandate: Finance, promote and expand intra- and extra-African trade. Build trade-enabling infrastructure and financial market infrastructure (including PAPSS, the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System) to lower the cost of African trade transactions.
Where the money comes from: Subscribed equity from African states, African and non-African financial institutions, and private investors, plus retained earnings. The Bank funds its lending book primarily through international bond issuance — including Samurai (Japanese yen) and Panda (Chinese renminbi) tranches — and syndicated loans from international banks. Equity is raised under sequential General Capital Increase programmes (GCI II most recently).
Scale: USD 48.5bn total assets and contingencies; USD 8.4bn shareholders' equity; USD 1.2bn FY2025 net incomeAs of 2025-12-31
Shareholders / members: Four shareholder classes. Class A: African states, African central banks, and African public institutions. Class B: African public and private financial institutions and investors. Class C: non-African financial institutions, banks, and investors. Class D: any of the above plus international institutional investors via the listed depositary receipt programme on the SEM and other exchanges.
Credit ratings: Moody's Baa2 (Stable) · JCR A- (Stable) · GCR A (Stable) · CCXI AAA (Stable)
Instruments: Pre- and post-export trade finance
Lines of credit to African banks
Project finance for export-enabling infrastructure
Export credit guarantees
Counter-cyclical trade liquidity facility (deployed in COVID and other shocks)
Factoring
PAPSS — Pan-African Payment and Settlement System
What it does in practice: Underwrites trade finance for African importers and exporters when international banks pull back. Operates PAPSS, the cross-border payment infrastructure that allows transactions between African counterparties to settle in local currencies rather than routing through USD correspondent banks. Hosts the biennial Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF). Has financed Kenya's first oil exports, multiple Kenyan sovereign trade lines, and direct facilities to Kenyan commercial banks.
Recent activity (2026): Q1 2026 net income up 25% year on year; shareholders' funds grew to USD 8.6bn at March 2026. Raised over USD 800 million from Samurai and Panda bond programmes in 2025. PAPSS continues expanding adoption across central banks and commercial banks.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: Where AfDB anchors infrastructure, Afreximbank anchors trade. For Kenyan exporters and importers, the Bank is one of the few sources of large-ticket trade finance not priced off US dollar correspondent banking. PAPSS, if it reaches scale, materially changes the economics of intra-African trade settlement.

Continental development bank · Est. 2007

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)

Pan-African infrastructure-focused MDB — third-highest rated multilateral on the continent, majority private-sector owned.

HQ: Lagos, Nigeria · www.africafc.org

Mandate: Bridge Africa's infrastructure gap by providing debt, equity, project development, and advisory across five priority sectors: power, transport and logistics, natural resources, telecommunications, and heavy industries.
Where the money comes from: Authorised share capital subscribed by African sovereigns (through central banks, sovereign wealth funds, and pension funds) plus private institutional investors. Lending book funded through international bond issuances (USD, EUR), syndicated loans, and lines from other DFIs including AfDB.
Scale: USD 2bn authorised share capital at founding; member base grown to 40+ African states; lending book funded through repeated USD eurobond programmesAs of 2024
Shareholders / members: 40+ African member states (through central banks, SWFs, or state pension institutions). The Central Bank of Nigeria holds the founding 38%. Private institutional investors hold 62%. AfDB joined as a shareholder, making AFC one of the few MDBs where the AfDB sits on the cap table.
Credit ratings: Moody's A3 (Stable)
Instruments: Senior and subordinated project loans
Equity and quasi-equity in infrastructure projects
Project development services (early-stage)
Financial advisory
Co-investment alongside other DFIs and commercial banks
What it does in practice: Finances large infrastructure transactions — power generation and transmission, ports, toll roads, oil and gas, mining, telecommunications towers. Often acts as the lead arranger or anchor investor on transactions that combine commercial and DFI capital. Has financed projects in West, East, North, and Southern Africa.
Recent activity (2026): Expanded membership in 2025 to include Benin, Botswana, DRC and Somalia; AfDB joined the shareholder register. Continues issuing USD eurobonds and term loans to fund the growing lending pipeline.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: AFC's hybrid public-private structure makes it faster-moving than the traditional MDBs and willing to take equity risk that AfDB or the World Bank typically will not. For Kenyan infrastructure pipelines, AFC is a credible financier on transactions that need risk capital, not just senior debt.

Regional development banks

5 institutions.

The bloc-level development banks anchored in specific regional groupings — TDB serves COMESA/EAC/SADC overlap; EADB the East African Community; BOAD the West African Monetary Union; EBID the wider ECOWAS; BDEAC the Central African Monetary Union. Together they cover most of the continent at the regional integration tier.

Regional development bank · Est. 1985

Trade and Development Bank (TDB (formerly PTA Bank))

The development-finance arm of COMESA, EAC, and SADC overlap — investment-grade, anchors trade finance across Eastern and Southern Africa.

HQ: Bujumbura, Burundi (HQ); principal offices in Nairobi and Mauritius · www.tdbgroup.org

Mandate: Finance and foster economic development and regional integration in the Eastern and Southern Africa region — its 22 member states span COMESA, EAC, and SADC. Originally established under the COMESA treaty as the PTA Bank.
Where the money comes from: Equity from African sovereign member states (Class A), non-African sovereign members (e.g. China, Belarus), and institutional investors including AfDB, BADEA, the OPEC Fund, and others (Class B). The lending book is funded by syndicated loans from international banks and DFIs, term funding from European and Middle Eastern banks, and bond issuance in selected markets.
Scale: USD ~7.2bn total assetsAs of 2024
Shareholders / members: 41 sovereign and institutional shareholders. 22 African member states across COMESA, EAC, and SADC. Two non-African member countries. Eleven institutional investors including AfDB, BADEA (Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa), and the OPEC Fund for International Development.
Credit ratings: Moody's Baa3 (Stable)
Instruments: Project and infrastructure finance
Trade finance (the largest line of business — pre- and post-export, structured commodity, syndicated trade)
Equity investments via TDB Capital
SME and microfinance through partner institutions
Climate finance accredited entity (Green Climate Fund)
What it does in practice: Provides medium- and long-term project finance to public and private borrowers, with trade finance as the workhorse line. Financed substantial Kenyan infrastructure — energy, transport, and manufacturing — and is a recurring lender to Kenyan state corporations. Accredited entity for the Green Climate Fund, which routes climate finance to projects in the region through TDB.
Recent activity (2026): Continued shareholder-base expansion (membership has grown from 19 to 41 over five years). Operational separation of TDB Capital (the equity arm) from the main bank.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: TDB is the regional bank that overlaps with Kenya's three primary trade and integration blocs. Its trade-finance lines are among the largest available to Kenyan banks, and it routinely co-finances projects alongside AfDB and other DFIs in the EAC region.

Regional development bank · Est. 1967

East African Development Bank (EADB)

The EAC's home-grown development bank — the first regional DFI in sub-Saharan Africa, investment grade since 2015.

HQ: Kampala, Uganda · www.eadb.org

Mandate: Strengthen socio-economic development and regional integration of its member states. Reconstituted by the 1980 Treaty after the collapse of the original East African Community; expanded mandate now covers broad financial services across the region.
Where the money comes from: Equity from the four EAC Partner States that are members (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda — Class A, 92%) plus institutional shareholders (Class B, 8%) including AfDB, FMO (the Dutch DFI), DEG (the German DFI), and several international banks. Lending book funded by lines of credit from European DFIs, syndicated facilities, and bond issuance in domestic and regional markets.
Scale: Smaller in scale than TDB or AfDB; balance-sheet figure in the low hundreds of USDm rangeAs of 2024
Shareholders / members: Class A: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda (92% combined). Class B: AfDB, FMO (Netherlands), DEG (Germany), SBIC-Africa Holdings, NCBA (formerly CBA), Nordea Bank Sweden, Standard Chartered London, Barclays London (8% combined).
Credit ratings: Moody's Baa3 (Stable)
Instruments: Long-term project loans
Trade finance
Lines of credit through partner banks
Technical assistance
What it does in practice: Lends to projects across the four EAC member states it serves — agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure, education, and financial-sector strengthening. Smaller than its scale would suggest given the EAC's combined economic weight; analysts (including Uchumi360) have noted EADB's marginal role relative to AfDB and TDB despite an earlier history.
Recent activity (2026): Moody's Baa3 stable rating affirmed in 2025; first East African institution to achieve investment grade (2015).
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: Despite a small balance sheet, EADB is the only bank where Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda all hold direct sovereign equity — it is structurally a tool of EAC integration, and any serious recapitalisation push by member states would substantially expand its capacity.

Regional development bank · Est. 1973

West African Development Bank (BOAD (Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement))

The development bank of the West African Monetary Union (UEMOA) — one of the highest-rated MDBs on the continent.

HQ: Lomé, Togo · www.boad.org

Mandate: Promote balanced development of the eight UEMOA member states and achieve regional economic integration by financing priority development projects. Sister institution to the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO).
Where the money comes from: Subscribed capital from the eight UEMOA member states, BCEAO, and a deep bench of non-regional shareholders that includes France, Germany, Belgium, China, Morocco, AfDB, the European Investment Bank, and the Exim Bank of India. Borrows on international capital markets and through DFI lines.
Scale: USD ~2.5bn total subscribed capitalAs of 2023-12
Shareholders / members: Eight UEMOA member states: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo. Plus BCEAO. Non-regional shareholders: Germany, France, Belgium, China, Morocco, AfDB, EIB, Exim Bank of India.
Credit ratings: JCR A (Stable) · Moody's Baa1 (Stable) · Fitch BBB (Stable)
Instruments: Sovereign and non-sovereign project loans
Lines of credit to West African banks
Guarantees
Green and social bond issuance
Technical assistance
What it does in practice: Funds infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and SME development across UEMOA. Has been an active issuer of sustainable bonds in the Eurobond market. The JCR A rating is two notches above Moody's Baa1 and three above Fitch BBB — a reminder that rating divergence across agencies on African MDBs is large.
Recent activity (2026): Received an inaugural A/Stable rating from JCR in 2025, positioning BOAD among the higher-rated African MDBs by Japanese agency standards. Moody's affirmed Baa1 with stable outlook in 2025.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: BOAD's investment-grade ratings let it borrow internationally at lower cost than any UEMOA sovereign individually — the classic MDB credit-enhancement value. Worth tracking as a model that EADB, EBID and others aspire to.

Regional development bank · Est. 1975

ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID)

The development-finance arm of ECOWAS — covers fifteen West African states; lower-rated than BOAD because ECOWAS spans both UEMOA and non-UEMOA economies.

HQ: Lomé, Togo · www.bidc-ebid.org

Mandate: Finance public-sector projects (the EBID Public Sector window) and private-sector enterprises (Private Sector window) across ECOWAS member states. Promote regional economic integration and the development of West Africa.
Where the money comes from: Capital subscriptions from 15 ECOWAS member states (with shareholder arrears having historically been a meaningful drag on solvency). Term funding through DFI lines and selective bond issuance.
Scale: Significantly smaller than BOAD; recent capital arrear clearances have improved solvencyAs of 2024
Shareholders / members: 15 ECOWAS member states: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo. (Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have announced ECOWAS withdrawal — a meaningful overhang for the Bank.)
Credit ratings: Fitch B (Stable) · Moody's B2 (Stable)
Instruments: Long-term sovereign and non-sovereign loans
Project finance
Lines of credit to West African commercial banks
Equity investments
What it does in practice: Finances infrastructure, agriculture, social, and private-sector projects across West Africa. The 'B'-tier rating reflects high credit risk in the loan book, modest capital adequacy, and concentrated funding sources rather than any structural defect in the mandate.
Recent activity (2026): Both Fitch and Moody's revised the outlook to stable in 2025 following improvements in non-performing loans and capital arrear clearances. The Alliance of Sahel States (BF/ML/NE) withdrawal from ECOWAS remains an overhang.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: Useful comparator to BOAD — same region, same broad mandate, very different ratings. The gap shows what membership composition, capital discipline, and currency-union backing (or its absence) do to a regional MDB's borrowing cost.

Regional development bank · Est. 1975

Development Bank of Central African States (BDEAC (Banque de Développement des États de l'Afrique Centrale))

The development bank of the Central African Monetary Union (CEMAC) — sister institution to BEAC, the regional central bank.

HQ: Brazzaville, Congo · www.bdeac.org

Mandate: Promote economic development and regional integration in CEMAC's six member states. Finance public and private projects that contribute to regional integration and economic diversification away from oil dependence.
Where the money comes from: Capital from the six CEMAC member states plus BEAC and non-regional shareholders (including AfDB and the French AFD). Term funding from European and Chinese DFIs and bond issuance in the BVMAC regional bond market.
Scale: Balance sheet in the low USD billions; smaller in scale than BOADAs of 2024
Shareholders / members: Six CEMAC member states: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon. Plus BEAC (the regional central bank), AfDB, Kuwait, Libya, and the French AFD.
Credit ratings: Not rated by major international agencies
Instruments: Long-term sovereign and non-sovereign project loans
Equity investments
Guarantees
Regional bond issuance in BVMAC market
What it does in practice: Lends primarily to infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, and SME projects across CEMAC. Has been more constrained than BOAD by the smaller capital base and weaker regional capital market.
Recent activity (2026): Continues issuing regional bonds through the BVMAC; expansion of climate and SME-focused lending lines.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: Completes the picture of regional African MDBs alongside TDB, EADB, BOAD, EBID — the full set covers most of the continent and shows how regional integration depth correlates with MDB credit standing.

Infrastructure investment platforms

One institution.

Vehicles purpose-built to take early-stage project-development risk and crowd in commercial capital alongside DFI money. Africa50 is the canonical example.

Infrastructure investment platform · Est. 2014

Africa50 (Africa50)

Infrastructure investment platform launched by AfDB and African states — designed to crowd-in commercial capital into bankable infrastructure projects.

HQ: Casablanca, Morocco · www.africa50.com

Mandate: Bridge Africa's infrastructure funding gap by combining project development (early-stage, high-risk preparation work) with later-stage investment (equity in bankable infrastructure assets). Mobilise commercial capital alongside sovereign and DFI capital.
Where the money comes from: Equity from 32 African sovereigns, AfDB, BCEAO, and Bank Al-Maghrib. Manages distinct vehicles — the Project Finance arm and the Africa50 Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF) — that take third-party institutional capital on top of the founding sovereign equity.
Scale: ~USD 700m initial subscribed capital at founding (2015); IAF I targeting up to USD 500m with first close at USD 118m; new USD 400m project-development raise underwayAs of 2026
Shareholders / members: 35 shareholders: 32 African countries, AfDB, BCEAO (Central Bank of West African States), and Bank Al-Maghrib (Central Bank of Morocco).
Credit ratings: Not rated by major international agencies
Instruments: Project equity (Africa50 Project Finance)
Project development services
Africa50 Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (third-party institutional capital)
Co-investment alongside DFIs and commercial sponsors
What it does in practice: Takes early-stage project development risk (the gap that often kills African infrastructure deals before they reach financing) and reaches scale through co-investment with sovereigns, DFIs, and commercial sponsors. Active in power, transport, ICT, water across the continent.
Recent activity (2026): First close on IAF I at USD 118m; ongoing raise for early-stage climate-resilient infrastructure capital targeting USD 400m using a blend of public, commercial and philanthropic capital.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: Africa50 is the operational answer to the question 'where do bankable African infrastructure projects come from?' It pre-finances feasibility, structuring, and de-risking before commercial money can be raised — exactly the missing layer in the African infrastructure-finance stack.

Insurance, reinsurance and risk

4 institutions.

The institutions that price and warehouse African risk — political risk (ATIDI), continental reinsurance (Africa Re), regional reinsurance (ZEP-RE), and parametric sovereign disaster insurance (ARC). Their balance sheets are a fair barometer of how much African risk is retained on the continent versus ceded to global reinsurers.

Insurance / guarantee · Est. 2001

African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI (formerly ATI))

Pan-African political-risk and trade-credit insurer — A-rated, the highest-rated specialised political-risk insurer on the continent.

HQ: Nairobi, Kenya · www.atidi.africa

Mandate: Insure trade, investment, and political risks across African member states. Improve Africa's risk perception, reduce the cost of capital for African projects, and crowd in foreign direct investment by guaranteeing investors against political and non-payment risk.
Where the money comes from: Paid-up capital from 24 African member states, one non-African member, and 12 corporate shareholders that include AfDB, TDB, UK Export Finance (UKEF), SACE (Italy), CESCE (Spain), Africa Re, Kenya Re, Chubb, NEXI (Japan), and Atradius. Premium income funds claims; reinsurance treaties with global reinsurers spread risk.
Scale: AfDB injecting USD 125m to lift its shareholding to ~14% (from 3%) and become largest single shareholderAs of 2026
Shareholders / members: 24 African member states, one non-African member, 12 corporate shareholders (AfDB becoming the largest at ~14% after the 2026 injection).
Credit ratings: S&P A (Stable) · Moody's A3 (Positive)
Instruments: Political-risk insurance (PRI) — expropriation, war, transfer restriction
Non-honouring of sovereign financial obligations (NHSFO) cover
Trade credit insurance
Surety bonds
Reinsurance treaties with global insurers
What it does in practice: Backs cross-border loans and investments in member states with insurance that lets international lenders extend credit they would otherwise not write. Has insured large infrastructure debt facilities, power-purchase agreements, and trade-finance lines across the continent.
Recent activity (2026): AfDB's 2026 USD 125m equity injection turns ATIDI into a much larger guarantee platform, with explicit focus on de-risking projects to unlock private capital flows.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: ATIDI is the African answer to MIGA (the World Bank's political-risk arm). For Kenyan and other African public projects that need international debt to close, ATIDI cover is often the difference between a transaction that prices and one that does not.

Reinsurance · Est. 1976

African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re)

Africa's largest indigenous reinsurer — over USD 1.2bn in annual premiums, A-rated by both S&P and AM Best.

HQ: Lagos, Nigeria · www.africa-re.com

Mandate: Foster the development of insurance and reinsurance industries in Africa, promote the growth of national, regional, and subregional underwriting and retention capacities, and support African economic development. Created under a 1976 agreement between AfDB and African states.
Where the money comes from: Premium income (over USD 1.2bn annually) is the principal source of funds; underwriting profits and investment income on float build retained earnings. Equity from 42 African member states (largest single bloc), AfDB, 113 African insurance and reinsurance companies, and three non-regional shareholders (AXA, Fairfax, Sanlam Allianz SE).
Scale: USD 1.2bn+ premium income; USD 1.15bn shareholders' equity; USD 1.8bn total assetsAs of 2024-12-31
Shareholders / members: 42 African member states (34.53%), AfDB (8.36%), 113 African insurance and reinsurance companies (33.85%), 3 non-regional shareholders (22.98% — AXA, Fairfax, Sanlam Allianz SE), Employee Share Ownership Plan (0.29%).
Credit ratings: AM Best A (Excellent) (Stable) · S&P A (Strong) (Stable)
Instruments: Treaty reinsurance
Facultative reinsurance
Specialty lines (life, agriculture, oil and gas, aviation, marine)
Capacity-building for African primary insurers
What it does in practice: Provides reinsurance capacity to African primary insurers, retaining premium and risk on the continent that would otherwise be ceded to European, Asian, or Bermudan reinsurers. Has regional offices in Cairo, Casablanca, Nairobi, Abidjan, and Lagos. Active in capacity-building and training for African insurance professionals.
Recent activity (2026): Africa Re marked its 50th anniversary as the continent's reinsurance market surpassed USD 6 billion; S&P upgraded the rating to A (Strong) in 2025.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: Reinsurance retention is one of the leakiest holes in African financial-sector balance sheets — premium income that should compound on the continent instead flows to Munich Re, Swiss Re, and the Bermuda market. Africa Re is the institutional answer; its growth is a fair proxy for African insurance-sector maturation.

Reinsurance · Est. 1990

ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company) (ZEP-RE)

COMESA's specialised reinsurance institution — bbb+-rated, the regional counterpart to Africa Re for Eastern and Southern Africa.

HQ: Nairobi, Kenya · zep-re.com

Mandate: Promote trade, development, and integration within the COMESA region by establishing regional insurance and reinsurance capacity to support trade. Specialised institution of COMESA created in 1990 under treaty.
Where the money comes from: Equity from COMESA member states and high-rated DFIs (AfDB, DEG of Germany, TDB), plus African insurance and reinsurance companies. Premium income funds claims and retained earnings.
Scale: Mid-sized regional reinsurer (specific 2025 figures published on zep-re.com)As of 2025
Shareholders / members: COMESA member states plus institutional shareholders including AfDB, DEG (Germany), TDB, and various African primary insurers and reinsurers.
Credit ratings: AM Best B++ (Good) FSR; bbb+ ICR (Stable) · GCR Active rating (Stable)
Instruments: Treaty reinsurance for life, non-life, and specialty
Facultative reinsurance
Microinsurance and inclusive-insurance capacity-building
Specialised lines (agriculture, energy)
What it does in practice: Provides reinsurance to COMESA-region primary insurers, with a deliberate tilt toward markets and lines underserved by global reinsurers. Active in agriculture and inclusive insurance lines.
Recent activity (2026): AM Best affirmed B++ FSR / bbb+ ICR in 2025; GCR maintained active ratings as at October 2025.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: Where Africa Re is pan-continental, ZEP-RE is regional and Kenya-headquartered. The two together form the spine of indigenous African reinsurance capacity, and their balance-sheet growth is a leading indicator of retained insurance premium on the continent.

Insurance / guarantee · Est. 2012

African Risk Capacity (ARC)

African Union specialised agency for sovereign disaster risk insurance — pools climate risk across member states and pays parametric drought / cyclone / pandemic claims.

HQ: Johannesburg, South Africa (ARC Agency); ARC Insurance Company Ltd in Bermuda · www.arc.int

Mandate: Help African Union member states improve their capacities to better plan, prepare, and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters through risk pooling and parametric insurance. Established as a Specialised Agency of the African Union in 2012.
Where the money comes from: Member-state premiums (sovereigns pay annual premiums to participate in the risk pool), donor capital, and reinsurance from international markets. Capital partners have historically included DFID/FCDO (UK), KfW (Germany), the World Bank, and the African Development Bank.
Scale: ARC has issued payouts in the tens of USD millions to several African states after qualifying drought eventsAs of 2024
Shareholders / members: AU member states pay premiums; ARC Insurance Company Ltd is capitalised by donor governments and DFIs.
Credit ratings: Not rated by major international agencies
Instruments: Parametric sovereign drought insurance
Parametric tropical-cyclone insurance
Outbreak and epidemic insurance (introduced post-COVID)
Replica programmes (NGO and WFP partners purchase matching cover)
What it does in practice: Sells parametric insurance to AU member states that pays out automatically when a satellite-measured rainfall or other index passes a pre-defined trigger — bypassing the months of damage assessment that typically delay traditional indemnity insurance. Multiple African states have received payouts after qualifying drought seasons.
Recent activity (2026): Continued expansion of the epidemic/outbreak product line and growth in replica-coverage partnerships with WFP and humanitarian agencies.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: Climate risk is increasingly the binding constraint on African public finance. ARC is the only operating continental mechanism that prices and transfers that risk to international reinsurance markets at sovereign scale. Kenya is an ARC member and has engaged with the drought product line.

Housing and urban development

One institution.

The only pan-African MDB dedicated to housing finance and urban development — recently transformed from a housing-finance company into a fully fledged development bank.

Housing development bank · Est. 1982

Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB (formerly Shelter Afrique))

The only pan-African MDB dedicated to housing and urban development — recently transformed from a regional housing-finance company into a fully fledged development bank.

HQ: Nairobi, Kenya · shelterafrique.org

Mandate: Promote and finance affordable housing, urban development, and related infrastructure across African member states. Bridge the African housing-finance gap by providing debt, quasi-equity, and equity to public and private housing developers.
Where the money comes from: Equity from 44 African member governments (Class A) plus AfDB and Africa Re (Class B). Lending book funded by lines of credit from European DFIs (KfW, AFD, etc.) and selective bond issuance.
Scale: Total assets ~USD 224m; shareholders' equity ~USD 166mAs of 2023-12-31
Shareholders / members: 44 African member states (Class A), AfDB and Africa Re (Class B), plus Fonds de Solidarité Africain. Headquartered in Nairobi.
Credit ratings: Not rated by major international agencies
Instruments: Long-term loans to public and private housing developers
Lines of credit to mortgage lenders and housing-finance institutions
Equity and quasi-equity in housing-finance vehicles
Technical assistance
What it does in practice: Lends to housing developers and mortgage providers across Africa; provides technical assistance on housing-sector reform and policy. Active in Kenya, given the Nairobi HQ, but with continental project pipeline.
Recent activity (2026): Shareholders approved revised statutes elevating Shelter Afrique into a full Development Bank dedicated to sustainable affordable housing and urban development across Africa.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: Housing is one of the largest structural funding gaps in African public finance and a major undeveloped market for African capital markets. Shelter Afrique is the only continental MDB specifically built around it, and its post-transformation scale-up is one to watch for Kenyan urban development.

AU agencies and payment infrastructure

2 institutions.

Two institutions that are not classical MDBs but are structurally important to the continental financial architecture — AUDA-NEPAD as the AU's technical development agency, and PAPSS as the cross-border payment and settlement infrastructure that aims to settle intra-African trade in local currencies.

AU agency / technical body · Est. 2018

African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD)

The AU's technical development agency — successor to the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, lead implementer of Agenda 2063 priority programmes.

HQ: Midrand, South Africa · www.nepad.org

Mandate: Coordinate and implement priority continental and regional development projects under Agenda 2063 (AU's 50-year development blueprint). Promote regional integration; strengthen Africa's capacity to deliver development outcomes.
Where the money comes from: AU member-state contributions (through the AU regular budget), bilateral and multilateral donor grants (including from EU, Germany, the UK, Japan), and partnership funding from AfDB, World Bank, and others.
Scale: Technical-assistance and coordination budget rather than a balance sheet — annual operating budget in the tens of USDmAs of 2024
Shareholders / members: Wholly owned and governed by the African Union; not a financial institution.
Credit ratings: Not rated by major international agencies
Instruments: Technical assistance to member states
Programme coordination (PIDA infrastructure priority list; CAADP agriculture programme)
African Peer Review Mechanism support
Convening on continental priorities (industrialisation, skills, science and technology)
What it does in practice: Convenes, coordinates and provides technical support for the AU's flagship continental programmes — the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). Sits alongside the AU Commission and the AfDB rather than as a financier itself.
Recent activity (2026): Ongoing PIDA Priority Action Plan rollout; APRM country-review activity.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: AUDA-NEPAD is the institutional link between AU political decisions and the project pipelines that get financed by AfDB, Afreximbank, and bilateral donors. Worth following for the upstream prioritisation that shapes what eventually appears as financed projects.

Payment & settlement infrastructure · Est. 2022

Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS)

Continental real-time gross settlement infrastructure for cross-border African payments — designed to settle intra-African trade in local currencies, bypassing USD correspondent banking.

HQ: Cairo, Egypt (operated by Afreximbank) · papss.com

Mandate: Provide a centralised payment and settlement infrastructure for intra-African trade, enabling instant cross-border payments in local currencies between participating banks across the continent. Initiative of the African Union, Afreximbank, and AfCFTA.
Where the money comes from: Operated and capitalised by Afreximbank; participating central banks settle net positions through correspondent arrangements at the back end. Operating cost recovered through transaction fees on participating banks.
Scale: Continental rollout in progress; central-bank participation expanding across West, East, and Southern AfricaAs of 2026
Shareholders / members: Operated by Afreximbank, governed in partnership with AU and AfCFTA Secretariat, with central-bank participation agreements country-by-country.
Credit ratings: Not rated by major international agencies
Instruments: Cross-border instant payment switch
Multilateral net settlement in local currencies
Standardised messaging for African intra-trade payments
Connectivity to participating commercial banks via their domestic clearing systems
What it does in practice: Routes a payment from a bank in country A to a bank in country B without the funds passing through a US-dollar correspondent bank. Each leg settles in the local currency through the participating central banks, with PAPSS performing the multilateral netting in the middle. The structural effect, at scale, would be a meaningful reduction in USD demand for intra-African trade settlement.
Recent activity (2026): Continued onboarding of central banks and commercial banks across the continent; integration into AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative.
Why it matters for a Kenyan reader: If PAPSS reaches the scale its founders envisage, it changes the economics of intra-African trade — lower transaction cost, less USD exposure, faster settlement. For Kenyan banks active in regional trade, PAPSS adoption is the single most consequential payment-rails change in a generation.

Editorial note

What we deliberately left out — and what comes next.

This atlas is intentionally finite. We have not yet covered the deeper insurance ecosystem (FANAF, the federation of national associations; the African Insurance Organisation), the specialist agricultural funds (FAGACE, Fonds de Solidarité Africain), or the AU's sectoral specialised agencies beyond AUDA-NEPAD. We have also kept the regional economic communities (AU, EAC, COMESA, SADC, ECOWAS, IGAD) on the parent Institutions Atlas rather than duplicating them here.

The data here is current as of 2026-06-02. We refresh on at least a quarterly cadence, and immediately on material rating actions or capital changes. Every revision lands as a new commit on the same file — the git log is the change history.

African multilateral institutions, in one place.

3 institutions.

5 institutions.

One institution.

4 institutions.

One institution.

2 institutions.

What we deliberately left out — and what comes next.

Read next.