Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has renewed calls for African nations to shift their financial priorities inward by committing a significant portion of their sovereign reserves to African-based development institutions.
The former President argued that doing so would be a bold step toward economic independence and sustainable development.
Speaking during a panel of former African Heads of State at the 2025 Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Nigeria on Friday, June 27, Akufo-Addo lamented the longstanding tendency of African nations to lodge their reserves in foreign banks—often at negative interest rates—while facing acute developmental deficits at home.
“The institutions we need to drive our development are not in our hands,” he said. “If we don’t control our financial institutions, we cannot sustainably fund our development.”
Citing a previous recommendation made to the African Union (AU) during his tenure as Ghana’s President and lead advocate for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Akufo-Addo proposed that 30 per cent of Africa’s sovereign reserves be directed to multilateral financial institutions within the continent.
He noted that empowering African-owned institutions such as the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) would equip them to respond more robustly to the continent’s development challenges and reduce reliance on foreign aid or capital.
“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 urged, pushing African leaders to translate rhetoric into action.
Akufo-Addo also pointed to the significant role African institutions can play, referencing Afreximbank’s recent US $750 million support to Ghana at a time when the country had lost access to international capital markets.
For him, this was a clear example of why Africa must invest in and strengthen its own financial systems.
