Harnessing Africa's sovereign wealth

LIBREVILLE/ABUJA/DJIBOUTI: On May 18, African Heads of State, European leaders, and representatives of international institutions gathered in Paris for a summit on financing African economies. As heads of African sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), we strongly believe that mobilising national resources – and using them to attract additional foreign capital – is the only way to ensure our economies’ financial independence.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the lingering vulnerabilities of African economies. They remain too sensitive to exchange-rate risk, unable to finance themselves, and too dependent on donors. In addition, adverse risk perceptions mean that most international investors and asset managers still have only a marginal presence on the continent.