Africa50 appoints former IFC regional director Cheick-Oumar Sylla as CEO

Africa50, an African infrastructure investment firm, has named former International Finance Corporation (IFC) regional director Cheick-Oumar Sylla as the Chief Executive Officer of its Project Development Fund. Sylla's appointment is set to play a pivotal role in the organisation's 2030 roadmap, as it aims to bolster its project development capabilities and create a pipeline of investment-ready infrastructure projects. These projects are expected to attract African institutional capital and global investors.

Alain Ebobissé, the CEO of Africa50 Group, emphasized that project development has become central to the organisation's mission to scale infrastructure investment across Africa. Sylla, who boasts over three decades of experience in infrastructure investment, project development, development finance, and private-sector growth across Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, will leverage his extensive background to expedite the process as the organisation enters a new phase of growth.

Africa50's decision to appoint Sylla comes amid the infrastructure investor's efforts to augment its project development capacity and secure fresh institutional capital for infrastructure projects across the continent. The organisation has also established partnerships for electricity transmission, LNG, and healthcare infrastructure in Tanzania, expanding its project development activities into key sectors.

As Africa grapples with the challenge of infrastructure financing, Sylla's appointment is a strategic move to address the continent's infrastructure financing gap. According to Nairametrics, as of May 2026, only about 2.7% of the approximately $4 trillion managed by global institutional investors is allocated to Africa's infrastructure and productive sectors, as reported by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The bank also highlighted that Africa faces an annual development financing shortfall of over $1.3 trillion, underscoring the significant disparity between the capital available globally and the funding reaching the continent.