The OECD said on Friday that Africa’s corporate debt markets are well below the size the continent’s economy and rising financing demands call for, with market-based debt outstanding at just $211 billion at the end of 2025.
OECD stated that this gap could hold back economic growth and undermine leaders’ efforts to build up local financing. Such financing is meant to cushion African businesses and governments when global markets come under strain, a time when foreign lenders tend to retreat from markets they see as risky.
In its Africa Capital Markets Report 2026, the OECD said capital markets on the continent are still not being used enough to provide long-term funding, especially compared with other emerging economies. This holds back their role in supporting growth and economic resilience.
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The estimates draw on bond and loan transaction data from the London Stock Exchange Group and private credit fund data from Preqin, covering all 54 African countries.
The corporate bond market is valued at about $35 billion. Adjusted for inflation, that is 44% below its 2015 high, a decline driven mainly by lower activity in South Africa.
Across the continent, companies issued 20 bonds at most in 2025, and financial firms were behind 17 of them. Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa together held 80% of all outstanding corporate debt.
Just 17% of the corporate debt issued in 2025 was denominated in local currency. That leaves borrowers struggling to lock in long-term funding without taking on currency risk.
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The OECD said economic and institutional barriers are the biggest obstacles to building bond markets in countries that lack them and urged policymakers to adopt a broad, government-wide approach. According to the report, the factors most closely tied to deeper bond markets include strong regulation, the rule of law, stable exchange rates, and well-developed pension funds.
The OECD also noted that donor countries cut aid to sub-Saharan Africa by more than 25%, which it said highlights the need for stronger domestic capital markets.
Equity markets are expanding but remain concentrated.
Market capitalization across African equity markets jumped 49% in 2025, more than double the rise seen in emerging markets overall. South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Morocco together made up 88% of the total.
Speaking at a roundtable on Friday, Carmine Di Noia, the OECD’s Director for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, pointed to Ethio Telecom’s May listing on Ethiopia’s newly launched securities exchange and the recent Kenya Pipeline Company IPO as signs that investable assets are emerging outside the established hubs.
He added that about 75% of Africa’s large non-financial state-owned enterprises have yet to list, which represents a sizeable untapped pool of assets.
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