African state-owned institutions are now overseeing a record $1 trillion in assets, according to a monthly report from sovereign wealth fund tracker GlobalSWF.
The increase reflects growing assets held by public pension funds, central banks, and sovereign wealth funds as African countries turn more toward domestic investment following reductions in concessional financing and foreign aid.
“African (institutions) are at an all-time high, with circa $1 trillion in AuM,” the report said. “Most are designed to catalyze FDI into Africa.”
The majority of these assets are managed by pension funds and central banks, though the continent is also seeing fast growth in the number of sovereign wealth funds deploying state capital, as seen on Reuters.
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GlobalSWF said five new sovereign wealth funds were launched this year alone: Botswana’s BSWF, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s FIS-RDC, Eswatini’s ESWF, Kenya’s KSWF, and Nigeria’s Oyo State Wealth Fund (OSWF).
Among Africa’s roughly 33 sovereign wealth funds, the Libyan Investment Authority remains the largest, managing $68 billion in assets.
Despite this, funds located in sub-Saharan Africa account for only 1% of the $14.3 trillion in assets held globally by sovereign wealth funds, based on GlobalSWF data.
A United Nations report released in June showed that foreign direct investment into Africa surged 75% in 2024 to $97 billion, but then dropped 42% year-on-year in the first half of 2025, as trade tensions, elevated interest rates, and geopolitical uncertainty continued to weigh on investor confidence.
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Image Credit: Reuters
