More infrastructure for Africa is not just about Africa. More infrastructure for Africa is about the future of the worldBritish A. Robinson, Chair Africa, Milken Institute International
- About this video
- Transcript
Africa’s G20 presidency marked an important moment for global finance, infrastructure investment, and economic development — culminating in a series of conversations and policy recommendations shaped by the B20.
In this video, leaders of the B20 Finance and Infrastructure Task Force share their perspectives and reflections on the themes and considerations that informed the B20 Finance and Infrastructure policy paper. The discussion centres on the scale of the infrastructure financing challenge, the cost of capital, and the conditions required to unlock investment — particularly in emerging markets.
Featuring insights from Paul Calvey and Dylan Walsh of Oliver Wyman, alongside chair, Sim Tshabalala, CEO of Standard Bank Group, and Co-Chairs John Denton, Benjamin Hung, Gianluca Riccio, British A. Robinson, and Samaila Zubairu, the conversation surfaces a consistent message: closing the infrastructure gap will require greater collaboration across public and private capital, pragmatic policy reform, and a more integrated approach to how investment flows through the system.
Together, these perspectives underscore how business, policy, and regional leadership can align to translate ambition into action and to support more inclusive, long-term growth.
British A. Robinson
More infrastructure for Africa is not just about Africa. More infrastructure for Africa is about the future of the world.
Sim Tshabalala
This has been the first G20 on the African continent, and it's been a huge privilege to watch South Africa coordinate outcomes that are meaningful for the whole world.
Dylan Walsh
In the past, the Finance and Infrastructure Task Force has focused on climate and sustainability. This year, the shift was much more to the funding gap around infrastructure and hard infrastructure roads, electricity production, you name it.
Paul Calvey
If you actually look at what's spent on infrastructure on an annual basis of around $3 trillion, you have the $500 billion a year gap and growing. And if you equate that into where we are here in Africa, that's roughly about 100 billion of missed investment.
Gianluca Riccio
Usually, large investments have always been a bit in silos. Now the look is end-to-end source of funds, use of funds, and, very importantly, flow of funds. You cannot expect to build a large infrastructure in Africa or elsewhere without involving the local communities. And that involvement has to happen at the inception of the project.
British
The capital is actually there, but we need to unlock the capital, and one lever to unlock the capital is to begin to look at local capital and philanthropic capital. And that's where we're going to see more infrastructure deals done, more bankable projects, and the risk perception that people have for investing in the continent, I think, will be reduced over time.
Benjamin Hung
It's amazing how we're all very aligned to come together to make some very, very pragmatic recommendations for the G20 and to the many countries around the world.
Paul
And our recommendations are really kind of focused on three key areas. One is around increasing the supply of investable projects. The second area is getting more capital into those projects. And then the third recommendation is really around enhancing that flow of funds from projects into infrastructure, into the wider economy.
John W. H. Denton
The source of innovation for the 21st century is not the sole remit of advanced economies. It comes from developing and emerging economies.
Samaila Zubairu
We have abundant resources, both human and natural resources. We have what the world needs. We have to capture and retain more value on the continent. That is the way that we can find justification for the massive infrastructure that is required to unlock prosperity for us.
British
We need each other more than ever. For so long, we've all worked in silos, but now one of the biggest recommendations is that we have to work together. More infrastructure for Africa is not just about Africa. More infrastructure for Africa is about the future of the world.
Sim
There's a massive gap. It needs to be closed. The gap is over $100 billion. We can only raise 65 billion on the African continent. There are some very basic things that ought to be done, which would unleash a lot of this capital.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
- About this video
- Transcript
Africa’s G20 presidency marked an important moment for global finance, infrastructure investment, and economic development — culminating in a series of conversations and policy recommendations shaped by the B20.
In this video, leaders of the B20 Finance and Infrastructure Task Force share their perspectives and reflections on the themes and considerations that informed the B20 Finance and Infrastructure policy paper. The discussion centres on the scale of the infrastructure financing challenge, the cost of capital, and the conditions required to unlock investment — particularly in emerging markets.
Featuring insights from Paul Calvey and Dylan Walsh of Oliver Wyman, alongside chair, Sim Tshabalala, CEO of Standard Bank Group, and Co-Chairs John Denton, Benjamin Hung, Gianluca Riccio, British A. Robinson, and Samaila Zubairu, the conversation surfaces a consistent message: closing the infrastructure gap will require greater collaboration across public and private capital, pragmatic policy reform, and a more integrated approach to how investment flows through the system.
Together, these perspectives underscore how business, policy, and regional leadership can align to translate ambition into action and to support more inclusive, long-term growth.
British A. Robinson
More infrastructure for Africa is not just about Africa. More infrastructure for Africa is about the future of the world.
Sim Tshabalala
This has been the first G20 on the African continent, and it's been a huge privilege to watch South Africa coordinate outcomes that are meaningful for the whole world.
Dylan Walsh
In the past, the Finance and Infrastructure Task Force has focused on climate and sustainability. This year, the shift was much more to the funding gap around infrastructure and hard infrastructure roads, electricity production, you name it.
Paul Calvey
If you actually look at what's spent on infrastructure on an annual basis of around $3 trillion, you have the $500 billion a year gap and growing. And if you equate that into where we are here in Africa, that's roughly about 100 billion of missed investment.
Gianluca Riccio
Usually, large investments have always been a bit in silos. Now the look is end-to-end source of funds, use of funds, and, very importantly, flow of funds. You cannot expect to build a large infrastructure in Africa or elsewhere without involving the local communities. And that involvement has to happen at the inception of the project.
British
The capital is actually there, but we need to unlock the capital, and one lever to unlock the capital is to begin to look at local capital and philanthropic capital. And that's where we're going to see more infrastructure deals done, more bankable projects, and the risk perception that people have for investing in the continent, I think, will be reduced over time.
Benjamin Hung
It's amazing how we're all very aligned to come together to make some very, very pragmatic recommendations for the G20 and to the many countries around the world.
Paul
And our recommendations are really kind of focused on three key areas. One is around increasing the supply of investable projects. The second area is getting more capital into those projects. And then the third recommendation is really around enhancing that flow of funds from projects into infrastructure, into the wider economy.
John W. H. Denton
The source of innovation for the 21st century is not the sole remit of advanced economies. It comes from developing and emerging economies.
Samaila Zubairu
We have abundant resources, both human and natural resources. We have what the world needs. We have to capture and retain more value on the continent. That is the way that we can find justification for the massive infrastructure that is required to unlock prosperity for us.
British
We need each other more than ever. For so long, we've all worked in silos, but now one of the biggest recommendations is that we have to work together. More infrastructure for Africa is not just about Africa. More infrastructure for Africa is about the future of the world.
Sim
There's a massive gap. It needs to be closed. The gap is over $100 billion. We can only raise 65 billion on the African continent. There are some very basic things that ought to be done, which would unleash a lot of this capital.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Africa’s G20 presidency marked an important moment for global finance, infrastructure investment, and economic development — culminating in a series of conversations and policy recommendations shaped by the B20.
In this video, leaders of the B20 Finance and Infrastructure Task Force share their perspectives and reflections on the themes and considerations that informed the B20 Finance and Infrastructure policy paper. The discussion centres on the scale of the infrastructure financing challenge, the cost of capital, and the conditions required to unlock investment — particularly in emerging markets.
Featuring insights from Paul Calvey and Dylan Walsh of Oliver Wyman, alongside chair, Sim Tshabalala, CEO of Standard Bank Group, and Co-Chairs John Denton, Benjamin Hung, Gianluca Riccio, British A. Robinson, and Samaila Zubairu, the conversation surfaces a consistent message: closing the infrastructure gap will require greater collaboration across public and private capital, pragmatic policy reform, and a more integrated approach to how investment flows through the system.
Together, these perspectives underscore how business, policy, and regional leadership can align to translate ambition into action and to support more inclusive, long-term growth.
British A. Robinson
More infrastructure for Africa is not just about Africa. More infrastructure for Africa is about the future of the world.
Sim Tshabalala
This has been the first G20 on the African continent, and it's been a huge privilege to watch South Africa coordinate outcomes that are meaningful for the whole world.
Dylan Walsh
In the past, the Finance and Infrastructure Task Force has focused on climate and sustainability. This year, the shift was much more to the funding gap around infrastructure and hard infrastructure roads, electricity production, you name it.
Paul Calvey
If you actually look at what's spent on infrastructure on an annual basis of around $3 trillion, you have the $500 billion a year gap and growing. And if you equate that into where we are here in Africa, that's roughly about 100 billion of missed investment.
Gianluca Riccio
Usually, large investments have always been a bit in silos. Now the look is end-to-end source of funds, use of funds, and, very importantly, flow of funds. You cannot expect to build a large infrastructure in Africa or elsewhere without involving the local communities. And that involvement has to happen at the inception of the project.
British
The capital is actually there, but we need to unlock the capital, and one lever to unlock the capital is to begin to look at local capital and philanthropic capital. And that's where we're going to see more infrastructure deals done, more bankable projects, and the risk perception that people have for investing in the continent, I think, will be reduced over time.
Benjamin Hung
It's amazing how we're all very aligned to come together to make some very, very pragmatic recommendations for the G20 and to the many countries around the world.
Paul
And our recommendations are really kind of focused on three key areas. One is around increasing the supply of investable projects. The second area is getting more capital into those projects. And then the third recommendation is really around enhancing that flow of funds from projects into infrastructure, into the wider economy.
John W. H. Denton
The source of innovation for the 21st century is not the sole remit of advanced economies. It comes from developing and emerging economies.
Samaila Zubairu
We have abundant resources, both human and natural resources. We have what the world needs. We have to capture and retain more value on the continent. That is the way that we can find justification for the massive infrastructure that is required to unlock prosperity for us.
British
We need each other more than ever. For so long, we've all worked in silos, but now one of the biggest recommendations is that we have to work together. More infrastructure for Africa is not just about Africa. More infrastructure for Africa is about the future of the world.
Sim
There's a massive gap. It needs to be closed. The gap is over $100 billion. We can only raise 65 billion on the African continent. There are some very basic things that ought to be done, which would unleash a lot of this capital.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.