African Development Bank Group Executive Director Rufus N. Darkortey delivered a compelling call to action for countries across Africa and the Caribbean to "reimagine economic growth" through bold and innovative homegrown solutions during a keynote address at the Africa-Caribbean Infrastructure Forum last month.
Speaking at the high-level gathering held on the margins of the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings on 25 April in Washington DC, Darkortey outlined a vision for "a new development compact" centered on domestic resource mobilization and private sector development to fast-track their transition from low to middle-income status.
"Unless we change the current development financing model, Africa and the Caribbean could remain trapped in low-income status for another 100 years," Darkortey told attendees at the Ronald Reagan Building. His Bank constituency spans Liberia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, the Gambia, and Sudan. "But with smart, courageous reforms and a renewed focus on homegrown solutions, we can accelerate that transformation in just 30 to 50 years, just as the Asian Tigers did."
The forum, co-hosted by SmartDev and the Africa Canada Trade and Investment Venture (ACTIV), brought together senior policymakers, development finance leaders, and private sector actors, including Haiti's Minister of Finance, Alfred Fils Metellus, to chart a new agenda for infrastructure financing and inclusive growth.
Darkortey emphasized that sustainable growth requires building robust domestic economies driven by local resource mobilization and private sector development. "We must expand fiscal space, modernize public financial management, and strengthen domestic private sector actors, particularly SMEs, which account for over 90% of businesses in Africa," he explained.
According to Darkortey, boosting domestic revenue and supporting local enterprises can unlock internal capital for development across healthcare, education, agriculture, and infrastructure, while improving sovereign debt sustainability. "This approach is central to transforming low-income countries into middle and high-income economies, breaking the cycle of poverty while empowering youth, women, and fragile communities," he added.
The Bank Executive Director presented stark statistics illustrating development gaps: despite adding 1.9 million kilometers of roads since 1995, only 30 percent of African roads are paved, compared to 92 percent in East Asia. Electricity access remains limited at 58 percent in Africa and 82 percent in the Caribbean.
Investment patterns reflect these challenges. Africa invests just 3.1 percent of GDP in infrastructure with 12 percent from private sources, while the Caribbean allocates 2.5 percent, with only five percent private financing. By comparison, Asian nations invest eight percent of GDP, with 42 percent coming from private sector partners.
Darkortey identified three structural barriers to development: weak domestic private sectors; foreign domination of core industries; and low revenue collection. He proposed several public-private partnership approaches to address the financing gaps: output-based aid tied to delivered results; build-operate-transfer infrastructure arrangements; blended finance mechanisms combining public and private capital; special economic zones with targeted investment incentives; and sovereign guaranteed gradual repayment schemes for SMEs.
"These are not borrowed blueprints; they are tools already working across the globe," he said.
Darkortey called on countries within Africa and the Caribbean to learn from the successful development models from Vietnam, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and the Dominican Republic to understand that transformation is possible. Vietnam now exports $370 billion annually. Bangladesh built a $42 billion garment industry and lifted 25 million people from poverty. Ethiopia increased exports about six times and expanded road coverage from 8 percent to 65 percent. The Dominican Republic lifted GDP per capita from $1,500 to over $11,000.
"Let this century be remembered not for aid dependency," he concluded, "but for domestic capital mobilization, SME-driven innovation, and sovereign economic and infrastructure development."
Darkortey also highlighted African Development Bank-funded projects like the Desert to Power project, aiming to provide renewable energy to 250 million people in the Sahel, and the Bank's support for Ethiopia's transformation into a net wheat exporter, as well as financing strategies that are driving Africa's transformation and development.
The forum featured a panel of prominent experts, including Caribbean Development Bank Vice President Dr. Isaac Solomon; Zambia's Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Chibamba Kanyama; and senior representatives from the Gates Foundation and the World Bank Group.
The panel, moderated by Dr. Carline Noailles, co-founder and managing partner at JESCA Solutions, offered deep insights into unlocking private capital and scaling public-private partnerships. Collectively, the forum painted a rich picture of what is possible when public policy and private enterprise align to pursue shared goals.
