{
  "id": 7727916,
  "title": "Africa Turns to Digital Bonds for Infrastructure",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/africa-turns-to-digital-bonds-for-infrastructure",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-16T06:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Global Finance",
    "slug": "global-finance",
    "url": "https://gfmag.com/features/africa-digital-bonds-infrastructure/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Africa, with its ambitious goals outlined in the Agenda 2063 development blueprint, is striving to create world-class infrastructure to seamlessly connect the continent through various modes of transportation and energy. However, this vision is hampered by a financing gap of over $80 billion annually, as reported by the Africa Development Bank. Traditionally, China has been the continent's primary partner in addressing infrastructure challenges, but recently, Gulf states have emerged as strategic allies. One of these entities, DP World based in Dubai, is currently investing $100 million in Kenya's mega special economic zone (SEZ), aimed at integrating Kenyan firms into regional and global supply chains. Despite the support from Gulf partners, the continent is compelled to innovate to meet its long-term financing needs. In this pursuit, digital bonds have emerged as a novel capital-raising solution. The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the first African institution to issue digital bonds, recently raised 350 million Swiss francs ($427.4 million) through a five-year tokenized security on a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platform, boasting a 1.4925% coupon. As the largest issuance in the Swiss Franc market, this digital bond attracted significant interest from a diverse range of investors, including banks, asset managers, and hedge funds. Eric Musau, Head of Research & Sustainable Finance at Kenya's Standard Investment Bank, highlighted how digital bonds can alleviate the issues plaguing traditional bond issuances, such as fragmentation, high costs, slow and manual processes, and an intricate network of intermediaries. These bonds, recorded and executed on DLT or blockchain technology, are gaining traction in the global finance landscape. In 2025, global DLT fixed-income issuance reached €4.8 billion ($5.5 billion), a 48% increase from €3.2 billion in 2024. Although Asia remains the primary hub for such issuances, Africa is also making strides in this space. The Africa Finance Corporation, which has disbursed $19 billion across 36 countries, believes that the new capital pool will expedite financing in critical sectors like transport, power, natural resources, heavy industry, and telecommunications. Transport, special economic zones (SEZs), and industrial parks are seen as crucial to the success of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Enhanced traffic flow across all modes of transportation is anticipated as a result. According to the Economic Commission for Africa, freight volumes are expected to double from 58 million tonnes to 131.5 million tonnes by 2030 under the AfCFTA. John Njiraini, a contributing writer from Kenya, has chronicled the continent's turn to digital bonds for infrastructure development in this Global Finance Magazine report.",
  "summary": "Gulf investment is rising, but Africa needs long-term solutions to close a huge infrastructure financing gap. The post Africa Turns to Digital Bonds for Infrastructure appeared first on Global Finance Magazine .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}