Unlocking domestic capital to drive infrastructure development across the East African Community (EAC) is crucial for sustaining economic growth in the region.
The EAC faces an infrastructure deficit currently estimated at an annual $42 billion, for modernising transportation, energy, and communication systems. This is hindering efforts towards stronger regional integration.
During the 2025 East Africa Institutional Investors Forum held in Arusha, Tanzania recently, Standard Bank Group affiliates, Stanbic Bank Kenya, Stanbic Bank Uganda and Stanbic Bank Tanzania together with institutional investors, policymakers and regulators discussed ways in which to mobilise alternative sources of finance.
The two-day forum focused on transitioning domestic capital from passive reserves into active investments in key strategic infrastructure projects.
Officially opening the discussions, Aime Uwase, the Director of Planning, at the EAC Secretariat said, “A robust infrastructure network is not only crucial, but also plays a foundational role in regional integration. Traditionally, much of our development funding has depended on external sources. However by unlocking domestic capital we not only diversify sources of funding, but also strengthen our economic resilience.”
Apart from hurting the EAC’s international competitiveness in attracting foreign investment, poor infrastructure also acts as a significant barrier to regional trade, increasing costs and limiting market access.
Highlighting the importance of the forum, Zoya Sisulu, Sector Head, Financial Institutions Group at Standard Bank said, “All the critical players in the East African market are here, including regulators, asset allocators and asset owners. All these role players are best placed to resolve the market challenges in support of driving the infrastructure theme which is important for the region going forward.”
Micheal Sseguya, Head of Financial Institutions Group, for Corporate and Investment Banking at Stanbic Bank Uganda said, “We are here to bring together institutional investors to talk about opportunities to diversify their investments beyond treasury bills and bonds and into commercial real estate, infrastructure, and large projects that are necessary for East African countries to develop.”
He said, “We had feedback from several investors in terms of what they consider as critical areas of investment. We also had feedback from regulators and other different players in this space. This is crucial for us to chart the path we are going to follow; hopefully to encourage and support our governments in East Africa to direct new flows of capital into this space.”
Sseguya said the region needs new infrastructure to support the logistics involved in the movement of people and goods. “The governments may not always have the funds to invest in these projects due to the many competing priorities. Our conversations are about how to structure these infrastructure transactions, and how to get stakeholders to support what we are trying to do.”
Benedict Nkini, Vice President for Financial Institutions at Stanbic Bank Tanzania said the EAC has an immense amount of private capital which is being held between commercial banks, fund managers, as well as asset managers across the region.
“The region has a very large requirement in terms of funding for strategic infrastructure projects. So the purpose of this forum is to bring together infrastructure players, the financiers, Development Finance Institutions, as well as regulators and government entities to discuss and bring together the expertise to drive forward the East African infrastructure agenda,” he said
However, the issue of risk was also raised during the discussions. Alternative sources, like pension funds and private assets under management, are overseen by managers who are accountable to their respective members or investors.
Alex Rumanyika, Head of Strategy at the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), said as custodians of people’s savings, their first priority is to ensure the safety of their investments. However, he said NSSF is also assuming a more active rather than passive role in making investment decisions, but it was still necessary to be cautious about investing in large scale infrastructure.
He said, “One possible option is to have an arrangement with the TDB (Trade Development Bank). They can create an infrastructure instrument on the stock exchange which makes it easy for pension funds to invest in these kinds of infrastructure deals. The key thing is have the right vehicle and have the right people to do the heavy lifting. That makes it easier for pension funds to get involved. At the end of the day, pensions are long term, but safety is a first priority.
Other risk factors that influence the mobilising of domestic savings into public projects include, lack of predictability, transparency, political interference and vested interests.
Monitoring a panel discussion, Mphokolo Makara, Executive Head, Energy and Infrastructure Financing-East Africa, Stanbic Bank said, it was important as capital providers, to understand the risks, as well as their appetite and also to understand what the risks are in relation to their respective mandates, in order to fully support development of infrastructure in the region.
