ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development engages Asian investors to accelerate financing for transformational projects in West Africa
In Bangkok on 15 October 2026, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development sat down with some of Asia's most influential financial players, including central banks, development finance institutions, commercial banks, institutional investors, and risk insurers, for the West Africa-Asia Capital Dialogue. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the World Bank Group and IMF Annual Meetings, and it had one clear goal: bring serious Asian capital into West Africa's most pressing development projects.
Representing EBID President Dr George Agyekum Donkor at the event, the Bank's Vice-President in charge of Risk and Control, Dr Mory Soumahoro, made the case for deeper financial ties between the two regions. He pointed to EBID's role in identifying, structuring, and financing high-impact projects while using its regional reach to reduce risk and attract private and institutional investment. The message was direct: the pipeline is there, and the Bank is ready to be the bridge.
Conversations on the day centered on blended finance structures, risk-sharing arrangements, and co-financing models across sectors like infrastructure, energy, industrialisation, agribusiness, and trade. These are the industries that will define West Africa's economic future, and the dialogue made clear that Asia, already one of Africa's top trading partners, has room to do much more on the investment side.
For EBID, the Bangkok dialogue is part of a longer play to diversify its funding base and pull in global capital for projects that create jobs, deepen regional value chains, and drive industrial growth across the fifteen ECOWAS member states. Whether the conversations in Bangkok translate into signed commitments is the part worth watching.
Originally published by African Business.