Volume 11 —17 November 2025
Look Forward:
Unlocking Africa
Africa's resources and young population make it vital for global sustainable growth. Unlocking its potential requires green finance, stronger capital markets and regional integration.
Endowed with abundant natural resources, including critical minerals, and a young population, Africa could play an increasingly material role in worldwide sustainable growth and the energy transition.
As the world’s second-largest continent, Africa is poised to contribute significantly to global economic growth. Africa has a population of approximately 1.5 billion people and a growing middle class, presenting extensive opportunities for investment across various sectors. The implementation of effective policies and financing solutions can unlock the continent’s potential, allowing it to emerge as a key player in the global economy. However, infrastructure deficits, climate change and debt sustainability challenges are hindering the pace of development.
Look Forward: Unlocking Africa compiles essential research from S&P Global on the continent’s economic growth potential, energy transition, access to sustainable and blended finance, and the importance of effective infrastructure projects. We hope you find it insightful.
S&P Global Ratings
Samira Mensah
Managing Director, Africa Research & Analytics, and Country Head, South Africa
In this edition
About this edition
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Overview
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Sponsors and Leads
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Contributors
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Past Editions
Unlocking Africa’s economic potential hinges on sustained global collaboration, as well as its ability to harness human capital and natural resources while using new technologies to accelerate long-term sustainable development.
Many African countries have strong GDP growth but face challenges such as limited government revenue and high debt-servicing costs, which restrict infrastructure investment. The continent stands at a crossroads, needing to accelerate regional integration through trade and industrialization while leveraging the energy transition to improve access to transport, electricity, water and digital networks for its growing population. Scalable financing solutions, including green finance, are essential to addressing these challenges. Given expectations of declining official aid from the US and Europe, the development of domestic capital markets will also be key. Development finance institutions can utilize their balance sheets to attract regional and foreign investments at lower borrowing costs, which can support the funding needs of African economies.
Africa requires $277 billion annually to meet its nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement on climate change by 2030, according to the Climate Policy Initiative. Despite raising nearly $13 billion in environmental, social and governance-labeled debt in 2024, Africa's share of global green bond issuances remains below 1%, highlighting untapped potential. Some African nations are beginning to develop climate frameworks and promote climate-resilient financing to bolster their economies against climate shocks.
In this context, we are excited to announce the inaugural S&P Global Africa Summit 2025: The Path to Capital Markets, held in Johannesburg in collaboration with the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA). This summit aims to enhance credit market development and highlight the role of multilateral development financial institutions in supporting Africa’s capital markets.
This landmark platform brings together thought leaders to develop strategies for advancing capital markets and development finance on the continent. Leading into the G20 summit, also in Johannesburg, the event will convene regional and international leaders, policymakers, and capital markets stakeholders to explore actionable strategies for unlocking investment and advancing Africa’s development agenda through robust financial markets.
S&P Global Ratings
Look Forward Council, Sponsor
Yann Le Pallec
President, S&P Global Ratings
Yann Le Pallec is President of S&P Global Ratings and a member of S&P Global’s Executive Leadership Team. He has ultimate responsibility for all aspects of the business, including commercial, analytical, control and operations functions. He is based in Paris and heads the S&P Global Ratings Operating Committee.
Mr. Le Pallec chairs the Board of CRISIL Ltd, a global provider of benchmarks and analytics for the financial community that also owns CRISIL Ratings, a leading credit rating agency in India. CRISIL Ltd is listed on BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange).
Previously, Mr. Le Pallec was the Executive Managing Director and Head of Global Ratings Services which oversees Analytics, Research, and Operations, encompassing more than 2,200 analysts and support staff across 28 countries who cover more than one million outstanding ratings on entities and securities across a range of sectors, including governments, corporations, financial institutions and structured finance.
Since joining S&P Global Ratings in 1999, Mr. Le Pallec has held a diverse array of roles, including Head of Global Corporate Ratings, leading a group of 500 analysts responsible for coverage of more than 4,000 non- financial corporations worldwide. Before that he led S&P Global’s credit ratings business in EMEA, managing a team of more than 900 ratings analysts and support staff across a dozen offices. Previously, he was Head of EMEA Corporate and Government Ratings, after serving in various managerial and analytical positions in the Insurance and Sovereign & Public Sector groups.
Mr. Le Pallec has also served as the Executive Sponsor for S&P Global’s PRIDE People Resource Group, which is dedicated to maintaining a supportive work environment for LGBTQ+ colleagues.
Prior to joining S&P Global, Mr. Le Pallec worked for nine years at Paris-based auditing and financial services firm Salustro Reydel.
Mr. Le Pallec holds a master's degree in Business from the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Economique et Commerciales (ESSEC) in France.
S&P Global Ratings
Samira Mensah
Managing Director, Africa Research & Analytics, and Country Head, South Africa
S&P Global Ratings
Look Forward Council, Co-Chair
Alexandra Dimitrijevic
Global Head of Research and Development
S&P Global Energy
Look Forward Council, Co-Chair
Atul Arya, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President and Chief Energy Strategist
His areas of expertise include business strategy, commercial analysis, oil markets, energy technologies, climate change and renewables. He has previously led Energy Insight, Research and Analysis and Energy Research teams at S&P Global (Now a part of S&P Global). Dr. Atul previously worked for BP for over 20 years in a number of operational, business, technical and strategic positions around the world. His career includes international leadership experience in a diverse array of energy fields spanning strategy development, business planning, field operations and technology commercialization. His experience includes leadership in solar energy development as well as oil and gas. Dr. Atul has previously served on boards of several companies and institutions and is member of the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Advanced Energy Technologies and is 25+ year member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. He is a sought-after speaker and moderator at public conferences, company boards and industry events and a member of the CERAWeek leadership team.
He holds B.S., M.S. and Ph. D. degrees in engineering.
S&P Global Ratings
Rimpal Acharya
Research Analyst, Sustainable Finance
S&P Global Ratings
Bernard De Longevialle
Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainable Finance Practice
S&P Global Ratings
Alexander Ekbom
Managing Director, Global Head of Multilateral Lending Institutions
S&P Global Ratings
Diana Flores
Senior Analyst, Infrastructure & Project Finance
S&P Global Market Intelligence
Thea Fourie
Head of Sub-Saharan Africa Insights & Analysis
Thea Fourie is the Director for Sub-Sahara Africa Economics and Risk at S&P Global Market Intelligence, based in Centurion, South Africa.
Thea leads Sub-Saharan Economics and Country Risk analysis for S&P Global Market Intelligence. Her 30-year career has been devoted to macro-econometric modeling and macro-economic analysis of the Sub-Saharan region, with a focus on markets including South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Central African Republic and Benin. South Africa and Nigeria are part of our proprietary Global Link Model - an econometric model covering 95% of global GDP - where she takes responsibility for these two countries.
Thea leads a team of 12 regional experts responsible for forecasting macroeconomic, country and sovereign risk outlooks across the region. She covers major developments on the African continent through strategic research and analysis, supporting clients globally on horizon scanning, portfolio management, market entry and risk mitigation. Prior to joining S&P Global, Thea was a financial economist and econometrician at ING Barings, BOE NatWest Securities, and ABSA Bank, specializing in macro and financial economic analysis of the South African economy.
Thea is based in Pretoria, and fluent in both Afrikaans and English.
S&P Global Ratings
Zahabia Gupta
Managing Director, Head of Credit Research Emerging Markets
S&P Global Ratings
Lavanya Kaushal
Lead Economic Analyst
S&P Global Ratings
Pablo Lutereau
Managing Director, Global Head of Infrastructure & Project Finance
S&P Global Energy
Silvia Macri
Associate Director, Power & Renewables Research
Silvia has led the regional renewables research for over 12 years, covering renewable power policy trends, business models, emerging renewable strategies, project activity and competitive landscape, among others. Her research scope includes all renewable power technologies' options.
Silvia leads the team covering power research and analysis in Africa and Middle East, including power market fundamentals and long-term outlook, strategy and policy, and competitive analysis. She has international experience in analysis and communication, having been based in the Middle East for over five years before her role at IHS Markit. Silvia was an energy researcher and journalist for the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES), based in Lebanon, and previously a development advisor at UNDP in Cairo, Egypt.
Silvia holds a BA in International Relations from Bologna University (Italy) and a Master's degree in Arab Gulf Studies from the University of Exeter (UK). She is Frankfurt School's Certified Expert in Climate and Renewable Energy Finance (2018). Silvia is based in Paris and speaks Italian, English, Spanish, and French, and has a basic knowledge of Arabic.
S&P Global Ratings
Annia Mayerstein
Senior Analyst, Sustainable Finance
S&P Global Ratings
Elijah Oliveros-Rosen
Chief Economist, Emerging Markets
Elijah Oliveros-Rosen is the Chief Economist, Emerging Markets for Latin America at S&P Global Ratings. He forecasts the main macroeconomic variables for major countries in the region, which are used by S&P Global analysts during the ratings process. He also publishes work on the outlook for emerging economies, as well as on other topics pertaining to the region.
Before joining S&P Global, Elijah was a Latin America Country Risk Analyst at BMI Research, where he conducted macroeconomic forecasts and published commentary on breaking developments. He also held the role of lead Latin America financial markets strategist at BMI Research, in which he identified investment opportunities across FX, Fixed Income, and Equities.
Elijah received his bachelor’s degree in International Economics from the University of Richmond and his master’s degree in Global Finance, Trade, and economic integration from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver.
S&P Global Ratings
Valerijs Rezvijs
Emerging Markets EMEA Economist
Valerijs Rezvijs joined S&P Global Ratings in 2021. He is covering emerging market economies in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Working closely with S&P’s sovereign analysts and other ratings teams, he is responsible for forecasting economic developments and producing in-depth economic analysis on these countries, as well as for communicating S&P Global Ratings views and insights to the external markets. Valerijs Rezvijs previously covered emerging market economies in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as worked in European Central Bank and the European Commission.
Valerijs is a graduate of the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.
S&P Global Ratings
Salaheddine Soumir
Senior Analyst, Sustainable Finance
S&P Global Ratings
Irina Velieva
Director, Sustainable Finance
Key support and contributions by: Cat VanVliet, Mary Brown, Ellen White, Cherie Nicole Haddy, Ben Yang, Omar Shamsuddin, Matt Schick, Meha Dave, Kurt Burger, and Camille McManus