The 2025 Africa50 General Shareholders Meeting GSM, held in Maputo under the high patronage of Mozambican President Daniel Francisco Chapo, was more than a formal gathering of shareholders. It became a platform for transformative agreements and ambitious commitments aimed at bridging Africa's infrastructure deficit and advancing regional integration. Hosted by the Government of Mozambique, the meeting brought together political leaders, global financiers, private investors and multilateral institutions determined to accelerate the pace of infrastructure development across the continent.
The event highlighted the urgency of mobilising resources and forging innovative partnerships to expand Africa's power networks, digital infrastructure and trade connectivity. Africa's infrastructure gap, estimated to cost the continent up to two percentage points of GDP growth annually, has long been recognised as one of the greatest barriers to its economic transformation. In Maputo, leaders made clear that closing that gap requires coordinated action, political will, and a platform capable of blending public and private investment at scale. Africa50, the investment vehicle created by African states and the African Development Bank AfDB, has positioned itself as precisely that platform.
Mozambique's strategic ambitionFor host nation Mozambique, the GSM was an opportunity to demonstrate how a resource-rich African country can align domestic aspirations with continental priorities. President Chapo underscored his government's ambition to leverage Mozambique's significant natural resource base, particularly its gas deposits and renewable energy potential, to power both national development and regional growth.