Africa is poised to launch a new initiative aimed at transforming its financial landscape with the introduction of the first-ever Structured Finance Africa (SFA) Forum.

Scheduled for September 25, 2025, in Dakar, Senegal, the forum will gather key stakeholders from the continent's structured finance ecosystem.

The event, themed “Financial Innovation and the Structural Transformation of African Economies: Securitisation, Sustainable Finance, and Sovereignty,” seeks to unite efforts and foster a collective drive to equip Africa with innovative financial tools tailored to its specific needs and ambitions.

The forum emerges against a backdrop of increasing financial pressures on the continent, including mounting budgetary constraints, rising debt burdens, and a significant infrastructure financing gap estimated at over $108 billion annually. 

Overall financial needs for Africa now exceed $130 billion per year, signaling a critical need to rethink traditional financing approaches.

Isaac MBAYE, Managing Director of Invictus Capital & Finance, stated, “This forum embodies our conviction that it is time to move from traditional financing to more ambitious, inclusive financial engineering rooted in our regional realities.” 

Moustapha FAYE, Managing Director of KF Titrisation, emphasized the role of securitization: “This event is a strategic opportunity to accelerate the use of securitisation as a lever for economic transformation.” 

Nafissatou DIAGNE, Managing Director of Development Finance Advisory (DFA), added, “Through this forum, we aim to strengthen dialogue among institutions, investors and operators, to develop realistic, functional solutions that address the urgent need for growth and sustainable development financing.”

The SFA Forum will focus on several key financial levers currently underutilized across the continent. This includes securitisation, which aims to channel local savings and bolster the financing capacity of financial institutions, noting that 25 transactions totaling over 2,000 billion FCFA have been completed in the WAEMU region since 2010, with half of this occurring in the last five years. 

The forum will also explore sustainable finance to support projects with significant social, environmental, and climate impact. 

Discussions will cover active public debt management with strategies to preserve macroeconomic balance and enhance resilience, alongside trade finance to secure strategic imports and strengthen regional value chains. 

Furthermore, the event will address infrastructure financing by developing innovative structures and hybrid instruments for development projects, and delve into structured public-private partnerships to catalyze private investment in essential services. Finally, digital innovation is acknowledged as a crucial driver for financial inclusion and improved intermediation.

The SFA Forum is positioned as a critical platform to bring together bankers, insurers, investors, fintechs, asset management companies, development institutions, regulators, and public decision-makers from both African and international markets. 

Its objective is to initiate open dialogue and share concrete solutions to the continent’s financing challenges, moving from conceptual discussions to actionable strategies.