AGTPF Launched in Abidjan at the African Union STC Ministerial Segment

The Africa Green Transition PPP Fund (AGTPF) was formally launched in Abidjan on 24 July 2026. The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) presented the Fund together with its General Partner during the ministerial segment of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee, putting ministers responsible for economy, finance, trade and industry in the room on the first day of the Fund's public life.

That audience was the point. Whether an infrastructure project is bankable is decided largely by policy and regulation, so launching in front of the ministers who set both secures the political backing the Fund needs before it starts raising capital in earnest.

What the Fund is built to do

AGTPF is a public-private investment platform with a narrow and practical purpose: to move green infrastructure out of the planning stage and into construction. It is structured as a Luxembourg SICAV-RAIF, a regulated vehicle that institutional investors can underwrite against, while project origination and investment priorities remain African-led. The first phase targets 500 million euros in committed capital.

Africa's difficulty has rarely been a shortage of green projects. Schemes get designed, feasibility work gets completed, and then they wait, because the capital to build them has not been assembled. AGTPF is aimed squarely at that handover point between preparation and construction finance.

"Africa does not lack green projects."

Mrs Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, AUDA-NEPAD

Speaking at the launch, AUDA-NEPAD's Chief Executive made the case that what the continent lacks is not pipeline but the platforms that convert prepared projects into investment, and described AGTPF as African-owned, institutionally credible and aligned with the Union's priorities.

Where the capital goes

The Fund will invest across five related areas:

• Renewable energy generation
• Power transmission infrastructure
• Projects at the water and energy nexus
• Industrial decarbonisation
• Climate-resilient infrastructure

Rather than duplicate work already being done upstream, AGTPF is positioned to follow on from the continent's project preparation facilities, including the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility and the PIDA Industrialisation Project Preparation Facility. Its mandate is written to support Agenda 2063, the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, the Continental Power System Masterplan, the African Single Electricity Market and Mission 300.

Partnerships confirmed at the launch

A memorandum of understanding was signed with the Africa Social Security Association, whose Secretary General framed the agreement as the start of an institutional partnership and pointed to the value of African institutions backing African-led solutions. Mobilising long-term domestic capital, including from social security institutions, is one of the routes the Fund intends to use alongside international investment.

The General Partners set out a similar position from the investment side, describing AGTPF as a partnership of equals that pairs African market and institutional knowledge with European asset management, structuring and financing capability, and committing to a disciplined first close rather than a rushed one.

Island economies as an early proving ground

AGTPF was launched alongside the AUDA-NEPAD Programme for African Developing Island Economies. Island states are a natural early test for the Fund's approach, where projects range from new renewable generation to cutting the emissions and running costs of desalination plants. These are small enough to move quickly and specific enough to demonstrate the model.

What happens next

Abidjan turned a political commitment into a working financing platform. The next milestone is the Africa Business Forum 2026, which becomes the investor-facing stage where AGTPF works towards its first close. That is the point at which the Fund stops being a mandate and starts being capital that breaks ground.