The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Afreximbank, Prof Benedict Oramah, has stated that Africa will remain economically stunted if it continues to channel its financial resources into developed economies rather than investing in its own development.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday at the 4th annual meeting of the Africa Sovereign Investors Forum, Oramah said, “Africa possesses significant capital to finance its development and trade. The real problem is that most of these funds, including about $400bn in foreign exchange reserves held by African central banks, are stashed outside of Africa based on neo-colonial ideas embedded in our minds, and which filtered into the policies of these institutions, that our assets are safer with others than with ourselves.”
The Afreximbank president argued that the issue was not the absence of capital, but rather the lack of strategic deployment.
He noted that Africa’s Sovereign Wealth Funds, collectively managing assets of over $100bn, often invest abroad, reinforcing perceptions that the continent is too risky for capital.
“When African Sovereign Wealth Funds and Pension Funds prioritise offshore investments, they inadvertently perpetuate this skewed perception of risk. This signals a lack of confidence in our own markets, which discourages both domestic and international co-investors. To counter this, our funds have a unique, powerful opportunity to rewrite this narrative by strategically investing within African markets,” he said.
Oramah called on Africa’s sovereign wealth funds to move beyond conservative asset management.
“African Sovereign Wealth Funds must evolve beyond mere custodians of surplus to become dynamic catalysts of structural transformation… actively mobilising, de-risking and syndicating capital for industrialisation, wealth creation and regional integration.”
Commending Nigeria’s own efforts, he pointed to the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority’s investment strategy, saying, “The NSIA laudably allocates about 40 per cent of its investments to domestic projects.” He also urged peer institutions to follow examples from other countries.
Also speaking at the event, Vice President Kashim Shettima called on African countries to deepen regional cooperation and maximise the potential of sovereign wealth funds to drive transformative development across the continent.
He said Africa must rethink how it mobilises and deploys capital, especially through sovereign wealth funds, if it is to close its infrastructure deficit, strengthen climate resilience, and create jobs for its expanding youth population.
The Vice President noted that sovereign wealth funds have moved beyond their traditional role as fiscal buffers and must now become key agents of national and regional development.
He identified limited fiscal space and rising demands for capital as major constraints on the continent, urging innovative thinking and collaboration.
Shettima commended the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority for championing local investments, describing it as a catalyst in Nigeria’s push to improve renewable energy, healthcare, and agriculture through strategic capital mobilisation.
He also welcomed the launch of the ASIF Investment Platform, describing it as a bold move to pool capital and expertise across the continent to finance high-impact, cross-border projects.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, said the forum was crucial for mobilising capital at scale and forging intercontinental partnerships that support Africa’s transformation.
Chairman of ASIF, Mr Obaid Amrane, said the forum has improved Africa’s global investment positioning and enabled greater collaboration among government.
