Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, has called for urgent reforms to the global financial architecture, warning that African countries continue to face structural barriers that limit access to affordable capital and long-term industrial development.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Oyedele said African economies remain burdened by what he described as a “prejudice premium” that raises borrowing costs and discourages long-term investment across the continent.
In a statement shared via his official X account on Wednesday, the minister argued that the current international financial system continues to constrain Africa’s industrialisation ambitions through high borrowing costs, restrictive financing conditions, limited access to long-term capital, and inadequate funding for productivity and value addition.
According to him, African nations must also strengthen their domestic systems by improving governance, ensuring policy consistency, enforcing contracts, and deepening regional integration to remain competitive in the global economy.
He warned that fragmented markets across the continent weaken Africa’s ability to compete globally, especially in an era where economic strength is increasingly tied to scale and integration.
READ ALSO: Govt Will Not Reverse Economic Reforms — Finance Minister Oyedele
Oyedele further urged governments across Africa to mobilise domestic savings, including pension funds, while creating stronger pathways for private capital to flow into productive sectors of the economy.
He noted that with over $120 trillion in global private capital searching for investment opportunities, Africa must reposition itself as a competitive destination for investment rather than relying primarily on development assistance.
The minister stressed that financing priorities on the continent should move away from raw material extraction and crisis response toward infrastructure development, value addition, skills acquisition, technology, innovation, and regional value chains.
He added that Africa’s long-term economic growth would depend largely on productivity, regional integration, and value creation rather than dependency on external support.