The African Development Bank's tentative $650 million commitment to Uganda's Standard Gauge Railway is about more than a railway. It signals the emergence of a new financing model for African infrastructure, combining multilateral capital, export credit support, and alternative capital markets to advance regional connectivity.

Africa’s development finance challenge is often framed as a shortage of capital. NAFAD suggests a different problem: the continent needs stronger financial architecture to transform risk, coordinate institutions, and channel existing savings into productive investment.