“Africa Needs A Substantial Volume of Long-term Capital”

“First and foremost, let me thank the President of the United States of America Joe Biden for inviting his African counterparts to this Second United States-Africa Leaders Summit.
I also wish to thank Messrs Michael Klowden and Paul Hinks for their invitation to this private roundtable.  As per the agenda, we are expected to brainstorm on “How finance can be a force for good in addressing Africa’s most pressing challenges and opportunities and contributing towards solving seemingly irresolvable global problems.”
The subject is topical in view of the current state of the global economy and the impact of health and security crises on our national economies.
The thorny issue of availability of financing features among the obstacles to Africa's economic development.
Yet Africa is endowed with a huge natural resource potential. The said potential is either under-tapped or tapped to the exclusion of local processing that would generate value added and wealth on the continent.
Africa accounts for barely a tiny portion of the financial resources in circulation globally. Accessing such resources is possible only at exorbitant rates, and often under conditions restricting the sovereignty of our States.
Africa remains overly dependent on official development assistance which no longer seems to meet our needs.
Generally speaking, the legal framework governing access to funding is extremely constraining, heightening our fiscal and institutional stability risks. As an example of such constraints, we are sometimes required by investors to mortgage some natural resources.
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