Africa50 Is a Colonial Hand at Its Best

News:

On 5^th to 6^th August 2026, the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania hosted The Infra for Africa Forum and Africa50 General Shareholders Meeting. The global gathering takes place at Julius Nyerere International Summit Centre convened heads of state, private investors, developers, experts on infrastructures and finances on Africa’s economic transformation.

Comment:

Africa50 which is the pan African infrastructure investment platform founded by the African Development Bank and African states in 2014 aims to accelerate and make infrastructure projects bankable as well as to help bridge the continent’s infrastructure funding gap public and private sector funding from within and outside Africa.

Just like other regional, continental and international co-operations, the Africa50 not to mention that is colonial entity, it would as others never bring better for the real African development.

In spite of Africa 50 engagements on several infrastructures projects such as first phase of small-scale liquefied natural gas project in Tanzania under the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and TAQA Arabia, covering the development of electricity transmission via Tanzania Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO). Also its collaboration with Tanzania’s Ministry of Health on expanding the country’s capacity to support investment in healthcare infrastructure, equipment and long-term operating capabilities. Yet in observation Africa50 is nothing but springboard and tool for western colonial and exploitative initiatives in the name of development partners.

For instance, British International Investment (BII) made a $20 million commitment to the Africa50 Infrastructure Acceleration Fund (IAF), making BII the fund’s latest limited partner and bringing total commitments to approximately $330 million. Furthermore, BII have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Africa50 to identify opportunities for co-investment, co-financing and capital mobilisation across African infrastructure.

This is clear indication that Africa50 platform simply is a colonial hand to exploit Africa in the name of developing infrastructures.

Above all, according to African Development Bank, it is estimated that the African infrastructure funding gap is up to $108 billion annually despite more than a decade of efforts.

Africa’s infrastructure fund deficiency shows existence of the colonial dependency syndrome. It is estimated that the continent’s infrastructure needs are up to more than $170 billion a year, while recently only about $80 billion has been committed to infrastructure annually with only 40% of African governments funding. The rest of funding is coming from colonial states and their colonial financial institutions.

Africa can make infrastructure problem solved if there could be no colonialism exploitation of her resources which estimated worthy of $29.5 trillion. Africa holds 40% of global gold, 90% of platinum and chromium, and over 50% of cobalt and manganese, 65% of the world’s uncultivated, arable land. All these resources and others are benefiting the colonial states while leaving the continent with unspeakable extreme poverty with no or poor infrastructures.

African Development Bank which is the mother organization of the Africa50 infrastructure platform just like other capitalist financial institutions, charges high interest rate for the loans that provides to African states in covering their needs on their infrastructure projects. In reality, Africa is being strangled not only by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) but also by the so-called home-made African Development Bank infrastructure loans which adds more problems to African unbearable debts.

In Islam, infrastructure development is an important aspect of citizens’ welfare undertaken by the Khilafah state using its treasury (Bayt al-Mal), which would have sufficient revenues, since Muslim world has massive resources and wealth. Once Khilafah Rashidah (rightly-guided Caliphate) re-established all colonial capitalist exploitative entities and its financial institutions would be kick off our lands with full denial from all projects.