Africa’s corporate debt markets remain far too small to match the continent’s economic weight and its growing financing needs, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, whose Africa Capital Markets Report 2026 puts outstanding market-based debt at just $211 billion at the end of 2025.
The findings, published on Friday, land squarely with policymakers. The OECD argues that economic and institutional hurdles are the main obstacles blocking bond markets in countries that lack them, and it calls on governments to adopt what it describes as “a broad, whole-of-government approach.” Regulatory quality, the rule of law, exchange-rate stability and well-developed pension funds are the factors most closely tied to deeper bond markets, the report says.
For leaders across the continent, the stakes are framed in governance and resilience terms. The OECD warns that the shortfall could impinge on economic growth and on efforts to expand local financing, which governments and firms view as protection during periods of global market stress, when foreign lenders typically retreat from markets perceived as risky.
“Overall, capital markets remain underutilised as a source of long-term finance, particularly when compared to other emerging-market economies, limiting their contribution to economic growth and resilience,” the organisation stated in the report.
The transaction data lay the problem bare. The report’s estimates draw on bond and loan records from the London Stock Exchange Group and private credit fund data from Preqin, covering all 54 African countries. Within that picture, the corporate bond market is estimated at $35 billion, a figure 44% smaller in inflation-adjusted terms than its 2015 peak. The OECD attributes the decline largely to reduced activity in South Africa.
Issuance has thinned to a striking degree. Companies across the continent issued no more than 20 bonds in 2025, and 17 of those came from financial firms. Six countries, Egypt, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria and South Africa, account for 80% of outstanding corporate debt, a concentration that underscores how uneven institutional capacity remains.
Meanwhile, currency exposure adds another layer of policy concern. Only 17% of corporate debt issued in 2025 was denominated in local currency, limiting borrowers’ ability to lock in long-term financing without carrying the risk of exchange-rate swings. That vulnerability sits at the intersection of monetary policy and private-sector balance sheets, and it is precisely the kind of structural weakness the OECD places before national authorities.
External developments sharpen the urgency. The OECD notes that aid to sub-Saharan Africa has fallen by more than 25% from donor countries within the organisation, a shift that, in its view, underscores the need for deeper domestic capital markets. As concessional flows recede, the burden of financing growth shifts toward institutions at home, and the quality of regulation and oversight will determine whether those institutions can absorb it.
By contrast, equity markets tell a somewhat different story, though one still marked by concentration. African equity market capitalisation surged 49% in 2025, more than twice the gain recorded across broader emerging markets. Yet four countries, South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco, accounted for 88% of the total, leaving the gains heavily clustered in a handful of jurisdictions.
Speaking at a round table on Friday, OECD Director for Financial and Enterprise Affairs Carmine Di Noia pointed to evidence that investable assets are rising beyond the traditional hubs. He cited Ethio Telecom’s listing on Ethiopia’s new securities exchange in May and the recent initial public offering of Kenya Pipeline Company as examples of that broadening.
Di Noia also highlighted a large untapped pool of publicly controlled assets. Three quarters of large non-financial state-owned African enterprises remain unlisted, he said, a figure that frames privatisation and listing decisions as matters of fiscal policy as much as market development. Whether governments choose to bring those enterprises to market, and whether they build the regulatory conditions the OECD identifies, will shape how much of the continent’s financing gap can be closed at home.