A Review of the Literature on Infrastructure Financing in Africa: Afrocentric Innovations for Nigeria

Although there is abundant finance available on the global capital market, not enough money is being invested in Africa's infrastructure. In a neoliberal world, investment funds in developed countries are driven to flow to where there is perceived to be the highest potential for returns rather than to Africa, where they may be needed for welfare improvement. These problems lead to the research question: what are the challenges of bridging Africa's infrastructural financing gap in a neoliberal international market? Consequently, the main objective of this paper is to review the literature that analyzes Africa's infrastructural financing constraints in a neoliberal world, using Nigeria as a case study. The research methodology involved a desktop analysis of existing literature. The analyses show that corruption, high debt, and low market depth are local realities affecting infrastructure finance in Nigeria. To surmount these problems, the paper proposes some culture-based funding options that are based on the communality culture and the spirit of self-help in Nigerian societies.