President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for collective action and regional cooperation among African countries in developing Africa’s sovereign wealth.
The president gave the charge on Monday in Abuja when he declared open the 4th Annual Meeting of the Africa Sovereign Investors Forum (ASIF), hosted by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).
Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, noted that the forum’s meeting with the theme, “Leveraging African Sovereign Wealth Funds to Mobilise Global Capital for Transformative Development in Africa,” was holding at a time the world is witnessing rapid transformation and is under pressure to think outside the box.
He said, “Our future lies not in working in silos but in pursuing regional cooperation and collective ambition. Our sovereign wealth funds must become the anchors for pan-African investment platforms that de-risk projects, standardise processes, and deliver sustainable outcomes at scale. This is not just a strategy. This is a necessity.”
Speaking further, Tinubu stated that “There can be no greater inspiration to reimagine how we invest, whether in setting up critical infrastructure, strengthening our climate resilience, promoting food security through agricultural innovation, supporting micro, small and medium enterprises, or embracing the digital economy to create jobs and expand opportunity.”
The president noted that ASIF has the pan-African apparatus to harness the collective strength of the continent’s sovereign investment institutions, just as he maintained that the time to act was now.
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“We must act and act now to close the infrastructure gap, build resilience to climate change, and create jobs for our expanding youth population. This is precisely why platforms like the Africa Sovereign Investors Forum are not just relevant but essential.
“ASIF offers a pan-African mechanism to harness the collective strength of our sovereign investment institutions. It gives us the power to share knowledge, co-invest across borders, and speak with a unified voice in the global financial ecosystem. Through this kind of collaboration, we will attract the scale of capital required to unlock Africa’s latent potential,” he stated.
President Tinubu applauded the formal launch of the ASIF Investment Platform, saying it is a strategic initiative that deepens collaboration among Africa’s sovereign wealth funds.
On his part, Chairman of African Sovereign Investors Forum (ASIF), Mr Obaid Amrane, said while Africa is open for business, the forum is committed to facilitating the participation of sovereign investors in Africa’s transformation.
He said in just three years, ASIF has made significant strides in enhancing Africa’s global positioning, closing the infrastructure funding gaps across the continent and promoting greater collaboration among governments and sovereign investors in transformative projects that impact lives across the length and breadth of the region.
Earlier in his remarks, the Managing Director, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq, explained that the focus of the meeting was to rally private capital as it plays a critical role in driving investments in infrastructure development on the continent.
He outlined the priority areas of the meeting and noted that the forum will catalyse investments across Africa and beyond, impacting lives through projects across diverse fields.