The African Development Bank (AfDB) has reported that West Africa’s annual development financing gap of up to $100 billion stems from structural inefficiencies rather than a genuine lack of capital. In its West Africa Economic Outlook 2026 report, the bank highlights that the region is failing to mobilize and channel existing domestic savings into productive sectors. The AfDB identifies critical policy levers to bridge this gap, including expanding the tax base, improving the management of natural resource wealth, formalizing the informal economy, and redirecting institutional pension and insurance assets toward long-term productive investments instead of short-dated government securities. The report also notes that high public investment inefficiency—where 41% of spending fails to yield productive capital—remains a major barrier to regional growth.