The African Development Bank (AfDB) has estimated that the continent is facing USD 400 billion annual development financing gap.
This gap created stemming from the decline in the Official Development Assistance (ODA) from the developed world dropped by 23 percent year to USD 174.3 billion in 2025 from USD 215.1 billion in 202, according to a data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
OECD said that is the largest annual contraction on record and a second consecutive year of decline, bringing ODA to where it stood at the start of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Against that backdrop, the bank is pushing for a fundamental shift—tapping Africa’s own financial resources to plug the annual development financing gap. Leaders, policymakers, and financing experts gathered for the annual meeting of the AfDB in Republic of Congo on Monday amid growing concerns over declining global aid flows and a worsening Ebola outbreak in Central Africa.
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The summit comes at a critical moment for the continent as African governments face rising debt pressures, slowing foreign financing, climate related economic challenges, and increasing demands for infrastructure, energy, healthcare, and job creation.
“Africa needs long-term finance for energy, foods security, climate adaption, infrastructure, and jobs for a growing and anxious population,” the AfDB said in a pre-meeting statement. “That gap demands audacious solutions.”
