The African Development Bank participated in the Fourth United Nations International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) in Seville, Spain, to advocate for comprehensive reforms of the global financial architecture to address Africa's development financing challenges and unlock investment for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Kevin Chika Urama, Chief Economist and Vice president for Economic Governance & Knowledge Management led a small Bank delegation.
The conference took place amid profound transformation, increasing geopolitical uncertainty, and growing systemic risk. The 2025 Sustainable Development Report, released in June 2025, shows that progress toward achieving the SDGs has fallen far short of expectations, with less than 20 percent of indicators on track. The global financing gap has widened considerably and now stands at approximately $4 trillion annually, with Africa's structural transformation gap estimated at $402.2 billion by the Bank.
During panel discussions, Urama emphasised that Official Development Assistance is not a sustainable source of development finance. He urged the international financial community to find consensus on the sustainable increase of long-term concessional development finance.
The Bank also presented comprehensive recommendations for reforming the global financial and debt architecture, which is inadequate for Africa. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as an example, Urama noted that African countries collectively only received 4.5 percent of the IMF's Special Drawing Rights, far too little for the continent's pressing fiscal, economic and social safety challenges during that time.
The Bank Group Chief economist also stressed Africa's need for low-cost, long-term development financing, faster debt resolution mechanisms, and inclusive participation in decision-making to influence global resource allocation. Achieving these will require close cooperation between the World Bank, IMF, and regional development banks, more innovative use of risk capital to mobilise private capital, and urgent reform of the global financial architecture.
However, Urama said African countries needs to mobilise more domestic resources including through leveraging natural capital and human resources, improving tax collection, enhancing public spending efficiency, and fighting illicit financial flows.
In Seville, the Bank delegation also participated in sessions featuring discussion of domestic resource mobilisation and accelerating Africa's development in a multipolar world. During the latter session, Dr. Alexandre Kopin presented the "Strategic Framework on Key Actions to Achieve Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa" report, jointly produced by the African Development Bank, the African Union Commission and African Union Development Agency/NEPAD. The report lays out a strategic vision for sustainable development in a multipolar world
