African state-owned institutions have crossed the 1 trillion US dollars mark in assets under management, reflecting a growing reliance on domestic investment amid declining foreign aid and concessional finance, Reuters reported.

The milestone, tracked by sovereign fund data firm GlobalSWF, covers public pension funds, central banks, and sovereign wealth funds. Most of these institutions are designed to attract foreign direct investment into Africa, the report said.

The expansion of sovereign wealth funds has been particularly rapid. Five new funds were launched this year, including Botswana’s BSWF, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s FIS-RDC, Eswatini’s ESWF, Kenya’s KSWF, and Nigeria’s OSWF in Oyo state. The Libyan Investment Authority, managing 68 billion US dollars, remains the largest of roughly 33 such funds on the continent.

Despite these gains, sub-Saharan Africa’s sovereign wealth funds account for just 1 percent of the 14.3 trillion US dollars held globally, highlighting the region’s limited footprint in the global market.