Ghana’s former President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has proposed that African nations allocate 30 per cent of their sovereign reserves to multilateral financial institutions within the continent.
According to him, this move would empower development finance institutions such as the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to more effectively respond to Africa’s pressing development needs.
The statement echoed a proposal he first advanced to the African Union (AU) while serving as Ghana’s President and as the lead advocate for the AfCFTA, which has its Secretariat in Accra.
Speaking on Friday, June 27, during a panel of former African Heads of State at the 2025 Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Nigeria, Akufo-Addo stressed that such a strategy could reshape Africa’s financial landscape.
He lamented that many African countries continue to deposit their reserves in foreign banks—often at negative interest rates—while struggling to finance critical infrastructure and development projects at home.
“The institutions we need to drive our development are not in our hands,” he said, emphasising the importance of financial sovereignty. “If we don’t control our financial institutions, we cannot sustainably fund our development.”
Akufo-Addo called for stronger collaboration to bolster Afreximbank and the AfDB, urging leaders to take bold steps beyond rhetoric. “We have to put our mouth where our thoughts are. Let’s make the decisions that will enable us to resolve our problems. We can’t do it just by talking,” he said.
He also criticised the continued delay in operationalising the African Central Bank, a long-standing proposal that has been discussed for over two decades. He argued that institutions such as the African Central Bank, African Investment Bank, and African Monetary Fund are critical to achieving the continent’s financial autonomy and accelerating development.
Highlighting the importance of Africa-owned financial institutions, he cited Afreximbank’s recent support for Ghana, which received US$750 million in financing at a time when it had lost access to international.
