THEME

UNLOCKING AFRICA’S FINANCIAL SOVEREIGNTY: FROM SAVINGS TO STRATEGIC POWER

Africa’s pursuit of financial sovereignty has never been more critical. Mounting constraints – from discriminatory trade barriers and rising debt to a global economy increasingly reduced to hard transactional terms – are reshaping the continent’s options. Meanwhile, international capital has grown more selective, costlier, and less patient than at any time in the past 50 years.

Across the continent, many of Africa’s most transformative projects — in energy, infrastructure, and digital innovation — remain stalled or underfunded. Yet the solution to inclusive growth and true autonomy lies within Africa’s grasp: mobilising its own savings through fit-for-purpose instruments, forward-thinking regulation, and strategic partnerships that can channel domestic capital into long-term investment.

This investable pool — valued in the trillions of U.S. dollars — spans pension funds, sovereign wealth vehicles, insurance assets, commercial banks, fintech platforms, and foreign exchange reserves. Right now, much of this capital remains underutilised — or flows outward in search of returns abroad.

The challenge is to activate this capital at scale.

The AFIS community of African financial institutions and policymakers must take the lead in driving this shift: from dependence to design, from fragmentation to coordination. This requires rethinking legacy structures, overcoming silos, and building trust across jurisdictions. It also demands positioning Africa’s financial champions at the heart of a new, future-facing financial architecture — one rooted in ownership, regional leadership, and smart risk-sharing.

Strategic Priorities:

• Unlock institutional capital by aligning regulatory frameworks across pensions, insurance, sovereign funds, and reserves;
• Empower African finance to lead and fund landmark national projects — particularly in energy, logistics, infrastructure, and natural resources;
• Make local stock exchanges and fintech platforms central to capital formation, especially for SMEs, Family Businesses and private equity;
• Strengthen insurance markets to address emerging risks — including cyber threats, climate change, and supply chain disruptions;
• Facilitate regulatory interoperability to ensure pan-African initiatives — AfCFTA, PAPSS, AELP deliver on their financial potential.

On 3–4 November in Casablanca, 1,250 African and global financial leaders and policymakers will come together to shape this new roadmap. This is not merely a financial challenge.

Africa does not need saving — just its own savings and capital. This is Africa’s moment.