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Buy African Initiative

A continental procurement-led industrial strategy

Buy African Initiative

Using demand aggregation to build continental industrial capacity.

Explore the mechanism

The case

Africa already buys enough to build industry

African governments command one of the continent’s largest untapped industrial policy instruments: public procurement. The Buy African Initiative makes a simple proposition: if part of what governments already procure is converted into predictable, aggregated continental demand, ordinary public expenditure can crowd in investment, build firms, create jobs, strengthen continental value chains, and reduce dependence on extra-African imports.

The issue is not the absence of demand, but rather fragmentation of demand across short-term tenders carried out in the spot market by each government and its agencies. This disperses buyers and leads to inconsistent specifications.

USD 600bn/year

Total public procurement in Africa

USD 75bn/year

Estimated procurement of tradable goods

20 million

Potential new formal jobs

1 in 15

Households that could be linked to productive activities leveraged by the initiative

The mechanism

Right of Supply turns public demand into investment

The Right of Supply is a long-term industrialisation procurement contract—also known as an advanced market commitment—awarded to selected African suppliers, consortia or productive networks through a competitive and transparent process.

01

Governments commit

  • Aggregated continental demand
  • Harmonized specifications
  • Multi-year framework agreements
  • Continental public procurement channel

02

Suppliers receive

  • Right of Supply through long-term framework agreements
  • Binding multi-year demand
  • Reserved or preferential market access based on comparative advantage or commitment to developing new capacities
  • Investment certainty

03

Suppliers must deliver

  • Inclusive investment
  • Quality, price and delivery
  • Continental content and sourcing
  • Technology transfer and sustainable jobs

How it would work

A coalition of willing governments aggregate demand from their agencies, subnational entities and state-owned enterprises, and harmonize specifications. Selected African suppliers, consortia or productive networks receive binding multi-year contracts through a competitive and transparent process.

In return, suppliers must deliver inclusive investment, quality and delivery; progressive continental content; technology transfer; supplier development; sustainable jobs; and agree to monitoring and evaluation.

The purpose is to address trade imbalances, expand intra-African trade and deepen industrialisation across the continent.

Continental execution architecture

Coordination and administration should be handled by a continental or regional entity associated with an industrialisation mandate and working with relevant African Union institutions—for example, Afreximbank or a dedicated subsidiary or regional office.

The coordinating entity would lead a specialized platform, administer framework agreements and industrial catalogues, manage payment security, and connect suppliers and governments to liquidity management, trade finance, supplier development, risk-sharing and investment-finance programmes.

The Right of Supply is a binding, performance-based instrument, not an unconditional preference. Continued market access depends on verified delivery of investment, continental sourcing, technology transfer, supplier development, quality, delivery and sustainable jobs.

The opportunity

First product areas where demand can anchor production

These preliminary product classes were selected for their potential to support manufacturing at scale and are ordered by projected allocation across the 55 African Union member states. “Estimated current contracts/year” indicates the modelled current annual frequency at which procurement contracts are issued. Both allocation and frequency are scaled estimates derived from a three-country reference basket comprising Zambia, Tanzania and Rwanda—not recorded procurement or observed contract counts.

  1. 01

    Printing and writing paper

    UNSPSC 14111500
    Projected allocationUSD 2.073bn
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 278,690
  2. 02

    Computers

    UNSPSC 43211500
    Projected allocationUSD 1.736bn
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 35,830
  3. 03

    Furniture

    UNSPSC 56101500
    Projected allocationUSD 1.249bn
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 50,772
  4. 04

    Pesticides or pest repellents

    UNSPSC 10191500
    Projected allocationUSD 1.030bn
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 25,203
  5. 05

    Chemical fertilizers and plant nutrients

    UNSPSC 10171600
    Projected allocationUSD 974.3m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 1,562
View 17 more products
  1. 06

    Cement and lime

    UNSPSC 30111600
    Projected allocationUSD 820.7m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 166,188
  2. 07

    Electrical cable and accessories

    UNSPSC 26121600
    Projected allocationUSD 701.3m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 19,984
  3. 08

    Passenger motor vehicles

    UNSPSC 25101500
    Projected allocationUSD 644.6m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 2,391
  4. 09

    Blocks

    UNSPSC 30131500
    Projected allocationUSD 556.3m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 102,635
  5. 10

    Industrial pipe and piping

    UNSPSC 40171600
    Projected allocationUSD 485.7m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 4,175
  6. 11

    Network service equipment

    UNSPSC 43222600
    Projected allocationUSD 480.9m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 6,119
  7. 12

    Agricultural machinery for soil preparation

    UNSPSC 21101500
    Projected allocationUSD 452.6m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 1,959
  8. 13

    Concrete reinforcement hardware

    UNSPSC 30111900
    Projected allocationUSD 441.6m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 143,203
  9. 14

    Power conditioning equipment

    UNSPSC 39121000
    Projected allocationUSD 420.9m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 6,793
  10. 15

    Power generators

    UNSPSC 26111600
    Projected allocationUSD 402.4m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 1,590
  11. 16

    Pumps

    UNSPSC 40151500
    Projected allocationUSD 357.6m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 5,929
  12. 17

    Electrical transmission and distribution equipment

    UNSPSC 39122100
    Projected allocationUSD 316.1m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 4,467
  13. 18

    Electrical boxes, enclosures, fittings and accessories

    UNSPSC 39121300
    Projected allocationUSD 236.6m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 83,520
  14. 19

    Tiles and flagstones

    UNSPSC 30131700
    Projected allocationUSD 232.6m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 65,702
  15. 20

    Batteries, cells and accessories

    UNSPSC 26111700
    Projected allocationUSD 221.1m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 8,479
  16. 21

    Roofing materials

    UNSPSC 30151500
    Projected allocationUSD 206.1m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 52,183
  17. 22

    Engineered wood products

    UNSPSC 11122000
    Projected allocationUSD 185.5m
    Estimated current contracts/year≈ 52,817

Productive Potential Index

Find where opportunity can be built across the value chain

Production locations should be identified through a technical and transparent Productive Potential Index (PPI), based on public demand, import-substitution potential, comparative advantages and current capabilities, technology proximity, scale potential, and upgrading value.

The PPI should study the entire value chain—not only the final product—including components, materials, inputs, services, standards, certification, logistics, maintenance and technology requirements.

  1. 01

    Select products

    High demand, recurrence, import dependence and strategic relevance.

  2. 02

    Decompose value chains

    Components, materials, services, standards and logistics.

  3. 03

    Map capabilities

    Firms, labs, research, skills, infrastructure and country-level strengths.

  4. 04

    Distribute opportunities

    Production of final goods, components, inputs, testing, maintenance and services.

What this means in practice

A practical path from public spending to industrial capacity

Start with what governments already buy, identify where demand can support African production, structure the regional procurement mechanism, and use the Right of Supply to turn demand into factories, suppliers, skills, jobs and regional industrial capacity.

  1. 01

    Select first product families

    High spend, recurrence, strategic relevance and import dependence.

  2. 02

    Apply the PPI

    Assess final goods and their component-level value-chain opportunities.

  3. 03

    Map the continental value chain

    Firms, components, standards, labs, logistics and services.

  4. 04

    Aggregate demand

    Join the Initiative through a coalition of willing governments and state-linked buyers, and assign representatives.

  5. 05

    Award Right of Supply

    Conditional long-term framework agreements with performance obligations.

  6. 06

    Monitor and upgrade

    Compliance, regional content, supplier development and deeper value addition.