Over the past few months, I have spent time in boardrooms, conference halls, government offices, airports, and more than a few dinner tables across Africa and beyond.
- +Trust is Africa’s most undervalued infrastructure
- +How much capital is required? Which projects should be prioritised?
The conversations have been remarkably consistent.
The conversations have been remarkably consistent. The sectors may differ. The organisations may differ. The countries may differ.
But the underlying question is often the same: How do we continue building in a period of growing uncertainty?
For some, the uncertainty is economic. For others, it is political.
For many in development, health, education, agriculture, and social impact, it is financial.
“Investors who trust leadership teams remain committed through difficult periods. Citizens who trust institutions are more willing to participate in collective solutions.”
Funding priorities are shifting. Long-standing assumptions are being challenged. Organisations are being forced to rethink old models and confront difficult realities.
Yet amid all of these conversations, I have found myself reflecting on something that rarely appears on balance sheets, strategic plans, or investment memos.
Not trust as a slogan. Trust as infrastructure.
When people hear the word “infrastructure”, they often think of roads, ports, airports, fibre networks, power plants, data centres, and logistics corridors.
These are all important. But there is another form of infrastructure that is often overlooked because it is invisible.
Trust is what allows people to work together before all the details are finalised.
Trust is what allows institutions to move faster than bureaucracy would normally permit.
Trust is what enables governments, businesses, investors, philanthropies, and civil society organisations to take calculated risks together.
Trust is what allows ecosystems to function.
And when trust is absent, even the best-funded initiatives struggle to achieve their potential.
I have seen this repeatedly throughout my career. The partnerships that create the greatest impact are rarely built overnight.
They are built through consistency. They are built when people do what they said they would do.
They are built when organisations deliver on commitments, especially when circumstances become difficult.
They are built when stakeholders choose transparency over convenience and long-term relationships over short-term transactions.
In many ways, trust behaves exactly like infrastructure.
It takes years to build. It requires ongoing maintenance.
And when neglected, it deteriorates much faster than most people realise.
Across Africa, we often discuss the infrastructure gap in terms of financing.
How much capital is required? Which projects should be prioritised?
How governments can attract greater investment.
These are important conversations. But there is another question that deserves equal attention.
How do we strengthen the trust infrastructure that allows investment, innovation, and collaboration to flourish?
The countries, institutions, and ecosystems that answer this question well often achieve outcomes that far exceed their available resources.
We see this in business. We see it in government. We see it in entrepreneurship. We see it in development.
Teams that trust one another move faster. Partners who trust one another solve problems more effectively.
Investors who trust leadership teams remain committed through difficult periods. Citizens who trust institutions are more willing to participate in collective solutions.
Trust reduces friction. And in complex systems, reducing friction creates enormous value.
This matters now more than ever. Africa is entering a period that will require deeper collaboration than perhaps any time in recent history.
No single government can solve every challenge alone. No single organisation can deliver transformation at scale. No single funder can carry the burden.
The future will increasingly belong to coalitions.
Coalitions of governments. Coalitions of businesses. Coalitions of innovators. Coalitions of development partners. Coalitions of communities.
The success of those coalitions will depend less on who has the biggest budget and more on who has invested in the relationships that make collaboration possible.
This is one of the reasons I remain optimistic.
Despite the headlines, despite the uncertainty, and despite the many pressures facing institutions today, I continue to see remarkable examples of people choosing collaboration over competition.
I see leaders sharing lessons across borders. I see organisations opening doors for one another. I see governments becoming more willing to learn from peers rather than reinvent solutions independently. I see entrepreneurs tackling problems that matter, not just problems that attract attention.
Most importantly, I see a growing recognition that sustainable progress cannot be built solely on transactions.
It must be built on relationships. Relationships create trust.
Trust creates resilience. And resilience creates the foundation for long-term growth.
The conversations that give me the greatest hope are rarely the ones happening on the main stage.
They happen before the meetings begin. They happen after the presentations end.
They happen around tables where people speak candidly about what is working, what is not working, and what they are willing to build together.
That is where trust is formed. That is where future partnerships begin.
That is where tomorrow’s opportunities are often created long before they become public announcements.
Africa will continue to need roads, power, digital infrastructure, healthcare systems, schools, and investment capital.
There is no question about that. But as we focus on building the visible infrastructure of the future, we should not overlook the invisible infrastructure that makes everything else possible.
Trust may be the most undervalued infrastructure asset on the continent. And it may ultimately prove to be one of the most important.
Ota Akhigbe is a global partnerships and development leader and serves as director of partnerships and programs at eHealth Africa. She works with governments, foundations, multilaterals, and private sector partners across Africa and globally to advance health systems strengthening, innovation, and sustainable development, with a particular focus on building trusted partnerships that translate ideas into lasting impact.
