Africa faces a $400bn annual development finance gap as official lending weakens and market borrowing costs rise. ODA from OECD countries fell an estimated 7% in 2024, with further declines projected. Market financing is helping fill the gap – but at a price: Africa’s marketable sovereign debt has risen to 30% of GDP from 13% in 2007, and 80% of rated African sovereigns are high risk or below. Refinancing all debt at current market rates would require primary balances to rise by 2.5% of GDP on average. The AfDB’s New African Financial Architecture now has an opportunity to demonstrate how it can translate proposals into deployable capital. Sidi Ould Tah sets out what the architecture will actually do, and by when.