ACCRA, GHANA | 11 JUNE 2025 — The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today launched the fourth edition of its Africa Investment Insights Report at the Africa Impact Summit 2025 in Accra, Ghana, spotlighting the enabling environment reforms needed to unlock the private sector’s full potential to finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Produced by the UNDP Africa Sustainable Finance Hub (ASFH), the report draws on investment intelligence from 20 African countries using data from the SDG Investor Platform. It offers a detailed look into the policy, regulatory and market barriers impeding private capital flows into SDG-aligned opportunities. Based on 250 Investment Opportunity Areas (IOAs) and 53 ‘white spaces’, which refer to gaps in market dynamics or policy environments where private sector participation and investment is currently hindered, the report calls for targeted action by governments, investors and development partners to open these opportunities. 

Ahunna Eziakonwa, Assistant UN Secretary General and Director of UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa noted: “To unlock Africa’s true potential, we must build business environments that attract sustainable private sector investment backed by enabling policies and innovation ecosystems to create jobs, drive sustainable development, and build a more equitable future. UNDP’s timbuktoo initiative is helping bridge these gaps by connecting startups with the resources, infrastructure, and expertise they need to thrive. The fourth edition of Africa Investment Insights Report is both timely and necessary, challenging us to rethink how we create and scale shared value for Africans in ways that truly empower local businesses.”  

“This report is not just analysis. It is a call to action,” said Maxwell Gomera, Director of UNDP’s Africa Sustainable Finance Hub. “It shows how African entrepreneurs, especially SMEs, are driving innovation across the continent. But to truly scale, they need supportive ecosystems, patient capital and enabling policies. Africa does not need saving. It needs space to lead, to innovate and to claim its future.” 

The findings confirm that SDG investments across Africa offer strong financial returns and deep development impact. More than one-quarter of profiled investment opportunities expect internal rates of return between 15 and 25 percent. Over half require some form of blended or concessional finance — highlighting the essential role of public support to crowd in private capital. 

“Africa’s future depends on our ability to reimagine how we address systemic challenges,” said Amma Lartey, CEO of Impact Investing Ghana and host of the Africa Impact Summit. “This Summit, and our collaboration with UNDP, is an opportunity for accelerating progress by providing the data, insights, policy recommendations, and platforms needed to mobilize and deploy capital for real change in Africa.” 

Key findings include: 

• High-return sectors: SDG investment opportunities in Food and Beverage, Renewable Energy and Infrastructure are particularly attractive. Many offer returns on investment of 15 to 25 percent and target market sizes between US$100 million and $1 billion.
• Geographic diversity: Investment opportunities are found across urban, semi-urban and rural areas. Eastern Africa stands out for having the largest share of opportunities that create new positive outcomes for underserved communities.
• Barrier mapping: Fifty-three white spaces reveal critical reforms needed across areas such as market competitiveness, policy coherence and infrastructure development.
• Public and private collaboration: Many obstacles can only be addressed through coordinated efforts involving both the private sector and governments. Examples from Zanzibar, Malawi and the Kenya–Uganda borderlands highlight where such partnerships are already delivering results. 

Published in partnership with timbuktoo, UNDP’s pan-African innovation initiative, the report also highlights the importance of entrepreneurial ecosystems in enabling investment, particularly in frontier sectors such as AgriTech, HealthTech and ManuTech. 

The report complements UNDP’s broader efforts to align private capital with the SDGs through tools such as the SDG Investor Platform, SDG Impact Standards, and Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs). These initiatives support countries to build the policies, systems, and investment pipelines needed to mobilize and measure sustainable finance, in alignment with the aims of the upcoming Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4). 

Full report and summary report in English and French available here