The AFIS 11: Essential steps to shore up the African Financial Industry Backbone
The Africa Financial Summit – AFIS, a platform for leaders in Africa’s financial sector to discuss issues that are shaping the industry, sets out 11 targets for banks, insurers, capital-markets players, fintechs, regulators and governments to lock in a stronger financial future for Africa.
AFIS Action Framework: 2035 Horizon
The AFIS 11 represents 11 measurable targets aimed at achieving an inclusive, self-sustaining and dynamic financial industry for Africa by 2030-2035.
Source of these priorities
The AFIS 11 is derived from the high-level panel and roundtable discussions at the 2025 AFIS Annual Summit, where more than 1,200 decision-makers – from central bank governors to fintech founders – debated the future of Africa’s financial systems.
The goals were refined by the AFIS Supervisory Council, a 30-member consultative body comprising leading African financial CEOs, chaired by Patrick Njoroge, former Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, with Olivier Noël, AFIS Secretary General.
These goals consolidate key ideas and reform calls expressed during AFIS and do not imply unanimous endorsement by Council members or speakers at the AFIS Annual Summit.
Progress Indicators
Each AFIS 11 goal carries one of four progress indicators, giving a snapshot of where the system stands today:
🟢 On Track – Progressing in line with the 2030–2035 trajectory; milestones are being met or exceeded
🟡 Advancing, But Behind Pace – Meaningful progress, but too slow to meet the timeline
🟠 Stalled or At Risk – Limited or uneven progress due to structural or regulatory barriers
🔴 Off Track / Regressing – Target deteriorating or moving materially away from the stated objective.
A sector moving – but some goals at risk
Certain goals are on a positive trajectory. African-owned banks are taking a larger share of trade finance, domestic private capital is playing a growing role in climate finance, and rising categories of mandatory insurance and growing risk pools could help African penetration rates slowly catch up with global norms. This shows an African financial industry committed to continental progress.
But for many other goals momentum is weaker and troublesome. African financial institutions and global credit-rating agencies remain deadlocked over how African sovereign risk is measured. Agri-SMEs and smallholder farmers remain a fraction of commercial financial institutions loan portfolios. And capital markets have yet to deliver credible IPO pipelines for family-owned businesses. In the baseline analysis of the AFIS 11, the majority of goals are advancing, but behind pace, while others are stalled or at risk. Failure to shift course will entrench malnutrition, suppress GDP, leave infrastructure underfunded and trap Africa’s private sector in subscale stagnation.
AFIS advocates for stronger financial future for Africa. This is how we can get there….
Discover why these goals were chosen and how the industry can make progress by downloading the full AFIS 11 Action Framework.