More than 50 days after taking office, the President of the Bank Group, Sidi Ould Tah, maintained a steady pace last week in his series of meetings with key players in Africa's financial sector.
Earlier in the week, on Monday, President Ould Tah received Denis Charles Kouassi, Director General of Côte d'Ivoire's National Social Security Fund (CNPS) and discussed potential collaboration and ways to mobilize the vast resources of social security funds for productive investments in Africa.
On Tuesday, Dr Ould Tah continued in this 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 seamless continuation of President Ould Tah's high-impact international engagement strategy, following significant partnership dialogues initiated during the recent 80th United Nations General Assembly and the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings. This structured sequence ensures continuous momentum in advancing the Bank Group's strategic objectives on the global stage.
In line with his continental development vision built around the "Four Cardinal Points" strategic priorities, President 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.
Under his "Four Cardinal Points" agenda for the Bank Group, President Ould Tah has committed to improving access to capital in Africa through, among other things, 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 pivotal Memorandum of Understanding. This collaboration is powerfully driving the development of green and climate-resilient infrastructure across Africa. By leveraging their collective strengths, this 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,' President 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
After the Tuesday consultation, President Ould Tah convened on Friday in Abidjan, held an extensive working session with the heads of the continent's leading African guarantee institutions. Ngueto Tiraina Yambaye, Director General of the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund (FAGACE); Felix Bikpo, Chairman of the Board of the African Guarantee Fund Group (AGF), together with its CEO Jules Ngankam; Abdourahmane Diallo, Director General of the African Solidarity Fund (FSA); and Manuel Moses, Chief Executive Officer of the African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI) attended the meeting.
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.
The African Development Bank plays a strategic and catalytic role in supporting African guarantee institutions, promoting access to finance, trade and investment across the continent. All the guarantee institutions that took part in Friday's discussions in Abidjan have established strong partnerships with the Bank Group.
Within the second pillar of the "Four Cardinal Points," which focuses on reforming and consolidating financial systems, 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.
African guarantee institutions remain as key levers for the Bank Group's action through the implementation of its Four Cardinal Points: access to capital, financial system reform, harnessing demographic potential, and resilient infrastructure.
