Capital held by Africa’s institutions rose by 25% last year in part because of record gold prices, and yet the continent is ​struggling to finance the infrastructure projects needed to create jobs, the ​Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) said on Thursday.

Global shocks and geopolitical shifts have ⁠made it harder for African nations to raise funds for development abroad, ​making it imperative states can draw on internal capital.

But that is not happening ​enough, according to the AFC’s annual study, the “State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report” published on Thursday at the start of a two-day meeting in Nairobi. The talks will try to secure ​deals for infrastructure projects in Africa.

“Capital is accumulating across Africa, but it ​is not creating jobs at scale,” said Samaila Zubairu, chief executive of the Lagos-based AFC. “That ‌is ⁠the disconnect we must fix.”

He said funds focused too much on low-risk assets like government bonds that do not fully translate into productive investments and that this “failure of alignment” must be addressed.

Capital held by African ​institutions like development banks, ​sovereign wealth funds ⁠and central banks jumped to more than $2 trillion from over $1.6 trillion a year ago, the report found.

The increase ​in central bank reserves was partly driven by rising gold ​holdings, ⁠which gained value from record prices on the international market.

AFC was founded in 2007 to mobilise funds for investment in Africa’s infrastructure and industrialisation.

It is owned ⁠by 48 ​African states that make up 64% of ​its shareholding as well as the African Development Bank and Turk Exim Bank and private institutions like ​African pension funds.

–Reuters–