The European Investment Bank Group has delivered one of its strongest years yet on the continent, deploying €3.1 billion to Africa in 2025 as part of a wider €9 billion package channelled through its development arm, EIB Global.
- The European Investment Bank Group invested €3.1 billion in Africa in 2025, focusing on SMEs, clean energy, water, transport and health.
- Major beneficiaries included Morocco, Nigeria, Mauritania, Egypt and Malawi, with further support to smaller island states.
- Flagship projects ranged from Africa’s biggest solar and battery plant in Egypt to vaccine manufacturing and rural electrification for 1.6 million people in Cameroon.
- The Bank also helped Africa’s venture capital ecosystem grow while contributing to the EU’s Global Gateway target, reached two years early.
A significant share of the funding went to key economies including Morocco, Nigeria, Mauritania, Egypt and Malawi, alongside smaller states such as The Gambia, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Cabo Verde.
SMEs were a major focus, with lending through credit lines and investment in venture capital funds continuing to anchor the Bank’s private-sector agenda. Sustainable energy, transport, water and health also received substantial backing.
Across sub-Saharan Africa, flagship projects included blue economy development in Mauritania and Cabo Verde, support for Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa sector, and new investment into agriculture value chains in Sierra Leone and Guinea.
In Cameroon, EIB Global improved electricity access for rural communities, a move expected to benefit more than 1.6 million people.
Climate-resilient infrastructure in Morocco and a green push in Egypt
In Morocco, the Bank financed new drinking water systems designed to improve climate resilience and extend access to smaller cities and rural areas.
It also backed post-earthquake recovery through the reconstruction of schools, hospitals, essential roads and other public infrastructure.
In Egypt, EIB Global advanced the country’s green transition with a €21 million EU grant to decarbonise industry and increase recycling.
It also funded the Obelisk solar photovoltaic project, now the largest solar and battery storage facility in Africa and invested in RMBV North Africa Fund III to stimulate private-sector growth.
Strengthening Africa’s health security
Health investments expanded through a guarantee agreement with MedAccess to widen access to essential medical supplies.
The transaction forms part of the Human Development Accelerator (HDX), a joint effort of the European Commission, the EIB and the Gates Foundation.
The Bank also supported mRNA vaccine manufacturing in Rwanda, Senegal and Ghana, and helped finance Angola’s first national HPV vaccination campaign, which aims to immunise more than 2 million girls against cervical cancer.
Backing Africa’s future investors and entrepreneurs
Under the Boost Africa initiative, EIB Global supported the Africa Venture Finance Programme hosted at the Saïd Business School, where more than 40 Africa-based venture capital managers received training.
The Bank also committed over €350 million to new investment funds in 2025, including vehicles run by Amethis and Ardian.
Over the past four years, the EIB has helped mobilise €73 billion across the continent. EIB Group President Nadia Calviño said, “In 2025, the EIB stepped up its support for win-win partnerships in Africa based on mutual respect. As the financing arm of the European Union, owned by its 27 member states, we are making a difference where it matters most: in high-impact projects that people can feel on the ground and that communities across Africa can rely on.”
As a core partner of the EU’s Global Gateway strategy, EIB Global reached the bloc’s €100 billion investment mobilisation target two years ahead of schedule. In 2025, three-quarters of EIB investments outside the EU supported Global Gateway projects, mobilising more than €20 billion.
Data-driven investment to reduce risk
Beyond financing, the Bank is working with the World Bank Group to lead the Global Emerging Markets Risk Database (GEMs) a collaboration of 29 development finance institutions sharing 40 years of credit risk data.
The dataset helps investors better understand default and recovery rates in emerging markets, reducing outdated assumptions and unlocking new private capital for Africa.
As one of the world’s largest multilateral lenders and the financing arm of the European Union, the EIB says it will continue to prioritise clean energy, health, water infrastructure, transport and private-sector growth, with a particular focus on young people and women.
