African financial and private sector leaders called for stronger coordination across the continent's financial system and practical mechanisms to mobilise and deploy African capital at scale during the African Development Bank Group's 2026 Annual Meetings.
The event, "Leveraging Capital, Strengthening Agency: African Ownership and the Future of Development Finance," was organised by the Bank Group's Resource Mobilisation and Partnerships Department in partnership with the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET).
Moderated by Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, ACET's President and Chief Executive Officer, the panel featured Thierno-Habib Hann, Managing Director of Shelter Afrique Development Bank; Christian Kajeneri, Chief Executive Officer of MTN MoMo Congo; and Mini Kouame, Managing Partner of Transat Management Company.
The discussion centred on the implementation of the New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD), endorsed under the Abidjan Consensus in April 2026. The framework aims to strengthen coordination across Africa's financial ecosystem, mobilise domestic capital, improve risk-sharing and channel finance into productive investment that supports job creation and structural transformation.
Framing the discussion, Owusu-Gyamfi observed that while Africa has significant domestic financial resources, these remain fragmented and underutilised. "There is a need for African agency. There is a need for African ownership. But most importantly, there is a need for better use of African resources," she said.
Strengthening African financial institutions
Panellists examined how African institutions can move from financing individual projects toward platforms capable of attracting and deploying capital across sectors and markets.
"We really need to leverage our capital, strengthen the capital first, and then leverage it multiple times, develop our capital markets, and invest in the space," Hann said.
He highlighted the role that African-owned development finance institutions, including the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions, can play in improving coordination, strengthening institutional capacity and mobilising investment. Africa's investment needs, including in housing and urban infrastructure, require stronger balance sheets and greater use of capital markets, he noted.
Kouame stressed that African institutional investors, including pension funds, insurers and sovereign wealth funds, need stronger mechanisms to connect with investment opportunities on the continent. He added that NAFAD could support a shift from project-by-project financing toward investment platforms capable of mobilising capital for sectors including real estate, energy and infrastructure.
Expanding digital finance and interoperability
Kajeneri addressed the role of digital finance in expanding participation in formal financial systems and supporting the circulation of capital. MTN MoMo Congo reaches approximately 62% of Republic of Congo's adult population through financial inclusion services, he noted, while limited interoperability between financial platforms continues to constrain access and deployment.
He emphasised that African markets already possess much of the technology and skills required to improve financial connectivity but need stronger coordination and commitment to enable financial services to work more effectively across markets.
African ownership through ADF-17
The discussion also reflected growing African participation in the continent's development finance institutions.
During the seventeenth replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF), the Bank Group's concessional lending arm, in December 2025, 24 African countries pledged approximately $180 million to ADF-17, with 20 contributing for the first time.
ADF-17 mobilised a record $11 billion, including contributions from 44 partners, the largest replenishment in the Fund's history. The Fund supports 37 low-income African countries.
"Africa is no longer only a beneficiary of concessional finance. Africa is a co-investor in its own future," African Development Bank President Dr Sidi Ould Tah remarked during the replenishment.
Closing the session, Owusu-Gyamfi emphasised implementation of NAFAD would require sustained coordination, leadership and accountability from institutions, private sector actors, policymakers and citizens across the continent.
