By Lucy Ogalue
Experts have said that stronger and more integrated financial systems are essential to mobilising development finance and accelerating Africa’s economic transformation.
The experts spoke at a high-level knowledge event at the just concluded African Development Bank (AfDB) Group’s 2026 Annual Meetings in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.
The knowledge event held under the theme, “Strengthening and Consolidating Africa’s Financial Systems and Agency in the Changing World”.
The session brought together heads of financial institutions, central bankers, regulators, development finance experts and legal practitioners from across Africa and beyond.
Moderating the discussion, AfDB Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Hassatou N’Sele, said the continent needed stronger financial systems capable of mobilising domestic resources for development.
She said that Africa’s development ambitions would require deeper financial integration and stronger institutions to attract long-term investment.
Speaking at the event, Governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Nobumitsu Hayashi, highlighted lessons from Asia’s economic development experience.
Hayashi said regional financial integration, supported by strong domestic capital markets and local-currency financing mechanisms, had played a critical roles in sustaining growth across Asian economies.
“We are doing a lot of financial integration because it is the real driver of sustained economic growth within Asian countries,” he said.
The discussion also focused on how development partners could support the creation of stronger domestic financial systems and improve access to long-term capital.
First Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dieudonné Alimasi, said restoring confidence in local currencies would require macroeconomic stability and greater financial inclusion.
According to him, exchange-rate stability and wider adoption of digital technologies are critical to expanding access to banking services across the continent.
Deputy Governor of the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), Michel Dzombala, said central banks had an important role to play in mobilising finance for regional institutions and supporting financial market development.
On investor confidence, Managing Director of the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund (FAGACE), Ngueto Yambaye, said African institutions must work together to improve perceptions of investment risk.
He said that existing African guarantee mechanisms still covered only a small proportion of the continent’s financing needs.
Chief Executive Officer of African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI), Manuel Moses, said Africa possessed significant financial resources that could be better mobilised for development.
Moses described AfDB’s New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD) as a practical framework for organising and deploying African capital more effectively.
He said the initiative could help address Africa’s annual development financing gap, estimated at about 400 billion dollars.
Also speaking, Co-Chair of the US-Africa Practice at DLA Piper, Kalidou Gadio, called for reforms to remove legal and regulatory barriers limiting investment.
He said deeper and more unified financial markets would be necessary to attract larger volumes of capital.
Chief of Business Development at the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), Cedrick Motetcho, stressed the importance of partnerships among financial institutions.
According to him, stronger collaboration would enable institutions to deploy financing tools more efficiently and respond faster to development needs.
Carlos Lopes, Honorary Professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town, urged African governments to align macroeconomic policies with long-term development goals.
He said pension funds and other domestic institutional investors should play a larger role in financing structural transformation across the continent.
The panelists agreed that Africa’s main challenge was not a lack of resources but the need to mobilise and deploy them more effectively.
The event formed part of a series of knowledge sessions organised on the sidelines of the AfDB Annual Meetings.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting, which held between May 25 and May 29, focused on mobilising financing for Africa’s development in an increasingly fragmented global environment.(NAN)(www.nannwws.ng)
Edited by Mark Longyen
