African Development Bank President Ould Tah Tackles Financial Reform in Push for Development
The president of the African Development Bank Group, Dr Sidi Ould Tah is maintaining a steady pace of meetings with key players in Africa’s financial sector.
On Monday 20 October, Dr Ould Tah received Denis Charles Kouassi, Director General of Côte d’Ivoire’s National Social Security Fund (CNPS). The two discussed potential collaboration and ways to mobilize the vast resources of social security funds for productive investments in Africa.
On Tuesday, he continued his series of high-level discussions by hosting the leaders of Africa’s sovereign investment institutions at the Bank Group headquarters in Abidjan.
These critical meetings represent a continuation of Dr Ould Tah’s high-impact international engagement strategy, following significant dialogue with partners initiated during the recent 80th United Nations General Assembly and the World Bank Group-IMF Annual Meetings in Washington DC.
In line with his continental development vision built around the “Four Cardinal Points” strategic priorities, Dr Ould Tah is calling on African financial institutions to operate in a unified, coordinated and synergistic manner to unlock large-scale capital in support of Africa’s development.
The ‘Four Cardinal Points’ provide a clear roadmap for a new era of African financial autonomy. This strategic framework is designed to sequence and implement mechanisms that prioritize the mobilization of the continent’s own capital, driving a more robust and equitable socioeconomic growth trajectory.
During Tuesday’s partnership meeting, discussions focused on transforming the continent’s financial architecture and exploring the establishment of an African Sovereign Borrowing Platform capable of mobilizing capital to finance major development projects. Emphasis was placed on improving data quality related to creditworthiness, developing risk-pooling instruments, and exploring how such a platform could enhance market access and reduce borrowing costs for African countries.
Improving access to capital in Africa through the mobilization of the continent’s domestic financial resources. African sovereign wealth funds hold approximately $153 billion in sovereign assets, complemented by a broader institutional investor base of nearly $1 trillion, providing a stable and substantial foundation for increased investment within the continent.
The African Development Bank played a key role in the initial design, positioning, and future direction of the African Sovereign Investors Forum (ASIF). The Forum exemplifies Africa’s ambition for financial autonomy by working to mobilize the continent’s internal financial resources for transformative development.
Strengthening the Bank’s leadership across the continent
The Bank Group and the African Sovereign Investors Forum (ASIF) forged a transformative partnership in May 2022 in Rabat, Morocco, signing a Memorandum of Understanding. This collaboration is driving the development of green and climate-resilient infrastructure across Africa. By leveraging their collective strengths, the alliance is boosting financing, strengthening skills and expertise within the infrastructure sector, and cementing a sustainable future for the continent.
The African Sovereign Investors Forum brings together 17 African sovereign wealth funds, including Rwanda’s Agaciro Development Fund Djibouti Sovereign Fund, Gabonese Strategic Investment Fund (FGIS), Senegalese Sovereign Fund for Strategic Investments (FONSIS), Angola Sovereign Wealth Fund (FSDEA), the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund (GIIF), Ithmar Capital of Morocco, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt.
Guided by the bold framework of the ‘Four Cardinal Points,’ Dr Ould Tah is implementing a transformative strategy designed to embed the Bank Group as Africa’s undisputed premier development finance institution. This vision ensures decisive leadership in cultivating the vital enabling environment to facilitate unhindered movement of capital that will unlock and optimise the immense potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
African guarantee funds — strong partners of the Bank
Also, in the week Dr Ould Tah held an extensive working session with the heads of the continent’s leading African guarantee institutions – the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund (FAGACE); the African Guarantee Fund Group (AGF); the African Solidarity Fund (FSA) and the African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI).
As custodians of Africa’s guarantee funds, institutions such as FAGACE, AGF, FSA and ATIDI are a major boost in augmenting the continent’s financial sovereignty.
Ngueto Tiraina Yambaye, Director General of FAGACE; Felix Bikpo, Chairman of the Board of AGF, together with its CEO Jules Ngankam; Abdourahmane Diallo, Director General of FSA and Manuel Moses, Chief Executive Officer of ATIDI attended the meeting.
The African Development Bank’s support to African guarantee institutions, promotes access to finance, trade and investment across the continent.
The second pillar of the “Four Cardinal Points,” focuses on reforming and consolidating financial systems and ensuring African capital is structured to pivot towards serving Africa. To achieve this, strategic initiatives are being instituted to reduce the fragmentation of the financial sector, harmonize regulations across the continent, and strengthen collective action within the global financial system.
