Africa must unite to fund Agenda 2063
ALGIERS, Algeria: AFRICAN financial leaders at the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2025) have called for bold reforms and stronger collaboration among homegrown institutions to close the continent’s chronic financing gaps and advance the African Union’s Agenda 2063 vision.
The session, “Strengthening Africa’s Multilateral Financial Institutions for Delivering Agenda 2063,” brought together top executives from Afreximbank, AfDB, Shelter Afrique, ZEP-RE, BADEA and the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA). They warned that Africa requires at least 200 billion US dollars annually through 2030 to meet development needs, yet still faces a 130 billion US dollars yearly trade finance shortfall and attracts just 3 percent of global foreign direct investment.
Dr. George Elombi, President-designate of Afreximbank, said industrialization is critical to Africa’s economic future. “If you have to trade, you have to produce what you trade. That means processing our iron ore, timber and petroleum products. Industrialization creates jobs and wealth,” he said. “But our institutions are undercapitalized. The combined exposure of just two Chinese banks in Africa exceeds all African multilateral lenders combined. We must act together as one.”
ZEP-RE Executive Director Benjamin Kamanga stressed the importance of risk protection. “Insurance is critical for investment, yet penetration in Africa is extremely low. Farmers, SMEs and even major projects remain unprotected. When disaster strikes, governments borrow heavily to rebuild. We are investing in technology to insure agriculture and SMEs, so floods or droughts don’t derail economies,” he said.
Shelter Afrique Managing Director Thierno-Habiv Hann highlighted Africa’s housing deficit of more than 52 million units. “Agenda 2063 assumed 7 percent annual GDP growth, but we are stuck at 3 percent. To catch up, we must grow at 10 percent. Housing is one engine of growth — but at current financing levels, the gap runs over 1 trillion US dollars,” Hann said.
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Other speakers pressed for mobilizing capital through innovative tools. AfDB’s Ousmane Fall said the bank is leveraging IMF resources to unlock billions in lending, while BADEA’s Dr. Tshepelayi Kabata urged debt-to-equity strategies to recapitalize development finance institutions.
FEDA Chief Executive Marlene Ngoyi emphasized building trade independence. “We cannot keep relying on foreign currencies. A product from Kinshasa should reach Nigeria without going through the dollar or euro,” she said. “Transformational finance must come from Africa, for Africa.”
The panel concluded that without scaling up Africa’s own multilateral financial institutions, Agenda 2063 — the “Africa We Want” — will remain out of reach.
