Manufacturing Africa (MA) has delivered at scale as a catalytic development programme. Since its launch in September 2019, MA data shows the programme has mobilised nearly £2.2-billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and supported approximately 150 000 direct and indirect jobs. Out of 266 companies supported at the time of this study, 175 companies of which have completed MA’s support, 55 have successfully raised investment, with a deal closure rate exceeding 30%. This compares favourably to peer programmes.

This study independently assesses MA’s ‘Bigger, Better, Faster’ Additionality Framework, the approach used by MA to ensure that Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) funds deliver outcomes beyond what the market would provide on its own. Using a theory-based approach drawing on contribution analysis, the study combines quantitative analysis of MA's Salesforce data, benchmarking against industry comparators, and semi-structured interviews with MA-supported companies and sector experts.

MA has created additionality across multiple dimensions. Our analysis found that MA has accelerated the pace of deals, and in some cases helped achieved larger deals. Investors also found that MA’s support to companies made them more confident about investing in a sector or company. ESG, gender and governance support strengthened companies’ investability and, in some cases, deepened the development impact of the deals.

MA’s impact extends beyond what the current framework captures, making firms’ fundamentals stronger and contributing to structural transformation. The current Additionality Framework is focussed on deals, but MA’s impact goes beyond this. The programme improves firms’ fundamentals by supporting companies to become more strategic, efficient and productive, and well managed. It supports deals in many innovative sectors, contributing to structural transformation and diversification of African economies, enhancing their resilience.

Future programming should expand the scope of MA, and the Additionality Framework should include positive impacts that are currently neglected. A broadened framework, structured around three levels – foundational company impact, investment-level impact and inclusive and sustainable economic transformation – would more accurately reflect MA’s contributions.

As MA demonstrates, FCDO’s role as a catalyst for private investment in African manufacturing is well established;future programming could expand this remit to more countries and activities, including more active support to last-mile investment processes (for instance supporting companies during negotiations with investors).

Report by the Overseas Development Institute