African banking leaders are urging a fundamental rethink in how the continent’s vast pools of financial capital are organised and channelled towards productive sectors. At the African Financial Summit in Casablanca this week, senior executives from across the banking industry called on African financial institutions to assume a more assertive role in deploying capital for sustainable economic transformation.
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, chairman of Access Holdings—the parent company of Nigeria’s largest bank by assets—argued that Africa’s growth challenge lies not in the scarcity of funds but in their inefficient allocation. “Capital is available, but it is not being channelled into the opportunities that exist in Africa,” he said. His remarks reflected a growing consensus among African financial leaders that domestic capital mobilisation must be central to the continent’s development strategy.
According to the Africa Finance Corporation, an estimated $4 trillion is held in African sovereign wealth funds, pension schemes, and private investment vehicles. However, much of this wealth remains tied up in low-yield assets, particularly short-term government securities, rather than being invested in sectors that generate long-term growth, employment, and industrial development. The challenge, according to industry leaders, is one of effective allocation and risk management, not a lack of liquidity.
Jeremy Awori, Chief Executive Officer of the Ecobank Group, which operates in 34 sub-Saharan African markets, emphasised the need for deeper collaboration between institutional investors and banks. “We need more pension funds, sovereign funds, and others to invest in the capital of banks, for us to lend to small and medium enterprises and the productive sector,” Awori said. He added that African economies must move away from an overreliance on investing in sovereign paper and instead build stronger domestic capital markets capable of financing enterprise growth.
While the continent’s financial systems have matured significantly since the 1990s, Africa’s largest banks remain concentrated in North Africa and South Africa, where institutions such as Standard Bank Group hold assets of over $196 billion. Meanwhile, emerging regional players—including Access Holdings—are pursuing expansion across borders to strengthen the flow of intra-African capital. In October, Access Holdings finalised a $110 million acquisition of the National Bank of Kenya from the KCB Group, a move that increased its total assets by 26% to $35.8 billion.
Yet, the growth of bank networks alone will not guarantee inclusive capital mobilisation. Despite the rapid rise of fintech innovation, which has expanded financial access and transaction volumes across the continent, the share of savings directed toward investments remains negligible. Aig-Imoukhuede estimated that only 2% of Africa’s approximately 700 million bank accounts are currently used for investment purposes. “We need the right policy context to get hundreds of millions of Africans investing at scale, not just saving,” he said. He added that Africa’s fintech ecosystem should evolve beyond payments to become a driver of large-scale investment partnerships with traditional banks.
The calls for reform come amid recognition that African banks operate under constraints distinct from those in Asia and other emerging regions. Xavier Jopart, a financial services advisor at McKinsey & Company, noted that African banks operate in economies that remain heavily exposed to commodity cycles and limited regional trade. “While Asian banks are embedded in export-led economies within sophisticated regional value chains, African banks function in systems where financial depth is constrained and economic stability depends on commodity prices,” he said.
Jopart added that compared to deep and liquid markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Jakarta, or Singapore, African capital markets are still developing, with low liquidity and limited investor participation. Strengthening these markets, he argued, will be essential to creating a more resilient financial system capable of supporting industrialisation and innovation.
Afreximbank Executive Vice-President, Haytham El Maayergi, echoed this sentiment, pointing out that only 15% of trade within Africa is intra-continental. “It doesn’t help our banking sector that only a small portion of trade on the continent is within Africa,” he said. “Our road and port infrastructure still reflects colonial designs meant to export goods to Europe rather than move them within Africa.”
Despite these constraints, opportunities for financial expansion remain substantial. The Democratic Republic of Congo, one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, has attracted new entrants from Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, and South Africa in recent months. These banks are positioning themselves to tap into the DRC’s mining-driven growth, which offers above-average returns compared with more mature markets.
The growing interest in intra-African banking underscores a broader continental shift—one that views Africa’s own financial systems as the engine of transformation. With the gradual implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), banking leaders believe there is a unique opportunity to align capital markets with industrial and trade policy. By harmonising financial regulations and encouraging cross-border investment, the AfCFTA could serve as a catalyst for deeper economic integration.
However, this vision will require not just institutional ambition but coordinated policy reform. Governments will need to establish macroeconomic stability and predictable legal frameworks to attract long-term investment. Regulators must balance innovation with prudence, while banks and fintech firms must work collaboratively to translate financial inclusion into productive capital formation.
Ultimately, the message from Casablanca was one of urgency rather than celebration. Africa’s financial leaders are not declaring victory—they are issuing a call to action. The continent’s economic future depends on how effectively it can mobilise, circulate, and invest its own capital to create broad-based prosperity.
As Aig-Imoukhuede concluded, “Africa’s wealth is sufficient to transform Africa, if we have the courage to use it wisely.”
