👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – AGOA, going, gone

Some African countries struggle to attract investment not because they lack businesses or infrastructure projects worth funding, but because the risks are too high for many global investors. British International Investment (BII), the UK government-owned development finance institution, wants to go where certain types of capital will not.

What happened? BII plans to invest about £2.25 billion ($3 billion) in some of Africa’s riskiest markets over the next five years, Bloomberg reported. The commitment is roughly a quarter of the £9 billion ($10.07 billion) BII expects to deploy and mobilise across Africa under its 2026–31 strategy.

The money will target frontier economies where private investment is scarce, while BII works with local banks, pension funds and other investors to deepen local financial markets.

Explain like I’m new here: BII is not an aid agency handing out grants. It invests in companies, banks, infrastructure, and funds, and expects returns. But as a development investor, it can take longer-term risks that commercial investors may avoid.

Think countries such as Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where businesses may have customers and growth opportunities but still struggle to raise money because investors worry about currency depreciation, political instability, weak capital markets, or difficulty getting their money out later.

In 2025, BII committed £729 million ($815.7 million) to poorer and more challenging markets. Its new strategy requires 25% of new core investments to go to the world’s least-developed countries.

Between the lines: Africa does not only need more foreign capital. It needs investors willing to take the first risk.

If BII backs a bank, power project, or local VC fund, and it performs well, the bigger win is proving to pension funds, insurers, and asset managers that the market can deliver investable returns. BII can then bring those investors into later deals instead of funding everything itself.