Morocco’s Ithmar Capital and the African Development Bank Group have announced a strengthened strategic partnership aimed at intensifying the mobilization of African institutional capital for cross-border infrastructure projects. The announcement, made in Abidjan, brings together the AfDB Group and the Africa Sovereign Investors Forum (ASIF), chaired by Ithmar Capital’s CEO Obaïd Amrane.
Building on their existing collaboration framework, the two institutions intend to develop new investment platforms supporting structuring projects for the continent and contributing to the implementation of the New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD). Amrane described the strengthened partnership as a concrete and operational translation of the Abidjan Consensus and the NAFAD agenda, reaffirming ASIF’s commitment to working alongside the AfDB Group toward its successful deployment.
Aida Ngom, Director of the AfDB Group’s Private Sector Department, said the declaration of intent illustrates the convergence of ambitions between the Bank Group and ASIF for the continent’s development, aligning with the four cardinal priorities guiding the Bank’s interventions. She noted that whether in energy infrastructure, regional corridors or other key sectors, these investments constitute essential levers for inclusive growth and shared prosperity.
ASIF, established in June 2022 in Rabat, brings together seventeen African sovereign investors to promote cooperation, knowledge-sharing and coordinated capital mobilization in support of the continent’s structural transformation. Ithmar Capital, created in 2011 as Morocco’s strategic investment fund, has increasingly taken on a pan-African vocation in recent years, having organized ASIF’s launch ceremony in Rabat and now serving as a trusted intermediary between national development priorities and private investment across the continent. As a sovereign fund, Ithmar adheres to the Santiago Principles promoted by the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, of which it has been an active member since 2015.
The partnership adds to Morocco’s broader continental financial diplomacy. Economy and Finance Minister Nadia Fettah participated in the AfDB’s first Strategic Talks in Abidjan, presenting Morocco’s domestic resource mobilization roadmap — rooted in the 2019 National Tax Assizes and consolidated through a dedicated framework law — and held bilateral talks with the AfDB president on strengthening Morocco’s position within the Bank’s governance structures.
