AU endorses establishment of African Investment Bank; Libya to be the host nation
The African Union has endorsed the establishment of an African Investment Bank.
The proposal to establish an African Investment Bank was endorsed by African leaders at the 37th Ordinary Session of the African Union held in Addis Ababa.
Libya has been designated as the host country for the African Investment Bank.
The unanimous support for Libya’s hosting of the bank underscores the commitment of African nations to promoting financial autonomy and self-reliance on the continent.
It also reflects the collective vision of African leaders to strengthen the role of African finance in driving economic growth and development.
Meanwhile, during the recent Presidential Dialogue on African Union Financial Institutions at the 37th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, President Akufo-Addo made a resolute call for African nations to withdraw a significant portion of their public funds and assets held in foreign banks.
Highlighting the prevailing challenges faced by African states in accessing development finance, President Akufo-Addo emphasized the need for fundamental reforms in the global financial architecture.
He underscored the detrimental impact of negative interest rates on sovereign reserves deposited in foreign financial institutions, urging his counterparts to redirect at least 30% of these reserves to African multilateral institutions.
“We’re all in agreement that the way the Global Financial architecture works at the moment, doesn’t work in our favour and that there is a need to make some fundamental systemic reforms. As it stands virtually all our countries, we hold our reserves in foreign Banks attracting largely negative rates of Interest.
“We should decide that a minimum of 30% of the reserves of each one of us (African States) Sovereign reserves should be invested in the African multilateral institutions. I speak about the AfDB, I speak of Afreximbank (African Export-Import Bank) which will strengthen their balance sheets and strengthen their capacity also to facilitate more and more resources for our development,” President Akufo-Addo remarked.
