Africa’s ambition to transform its food systems into engines of economic growth will require a major expansion of investment, with the continent’s $100 billion agrifood investment commitment needing to translate into actual projects, financing and private-sector opportunities.

This is one of the key messages emerging from the 2025 Africa Food Systems Report published by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which argues that finance must move beyond traditional agricultural support and become a catalyst for structural transformation across the continent’s food economy.

The report highlights the need for stronger collaboration between governments, development finance institutions, donors and private investors to close persistent financing gaps in agriculture. It recommends the expansion of blended finance, challenge funds, development impact bonds, first-loss capital and guarantee schemes to reduce investment risks and attract more private capital into the sector.

According to the report, regional economic communities including ECOWAS, COMESA and the East African Community should establish food-system investment platforms capable of aggregating projects, developing agro-industrial clusters and strengthening trade corridors. Such platforms could also help harmonise financial mechanisms and make cross-border agricultural investments more attractive to investors.

For businesses, AGRA identifies technology and digital finance as increasingly important tools for reducing the cost of reaching agricultural enterprises and improving access to capital. Digital and artificial-intelligence-driven platforms could help reduce distribution costs, address information gaps and improve credit access, while better data systems could strengthen investment decisions and underwriting across agricultural value chains.

The report also places particular emphasis on women- and youth-led agrifood businesses, recommending dedicated investment windows, blended-finance instruments, mentorship programmes and preferential procurement to help these enterprises move from small-scale operations into commercially viable businesses.

AGRA argues that development finance institutions, including the African Development Bank and Trade and Development Bank, have an important role to play in de-risking investments and mobilising private capital. The broader objective, it says, is to move Africa away from food dependency towards more resilient and commercially competitive food systems capable of generating jobs, incomes and regional trade.

The report’s recommendations come as AGRA continues to position country-led agricultural transformation and stronger market competitiveness at the centre of its strategy. Its 2024 annual report, for instance, identified resilience and market competitiveness as key themes for driving inclusive growth and regional integration across Africa’s food systems.