The president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) articulated, to African leaders, his conception of financial circuits so that the continent mobilizes and deploys its capital more effectively for development.
“NAFA is not a slogan. It is a deliberate reorganization of the way Africa mobilizes, allocates, and deploys its capital for development. A shift from fragmentation to coordination. From isolated transactions to systemic scale. From dependence on external capital to financial sovereignty.”
This is how Sidi Ould Tah presented his vision during the Conference of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), on February 15, 2026. In his maiden address as president of the AfDB, Dr. Ould Tah introduced the “New African Financial Architecture” as the strategic lever for a massive mobilization of resources and the foundation of a new African financial sovereignty. In his view, it is about profoundly transforming the way the continent mobilizes and deploys its resources.
“Africa is not short of ambition. Agenda 2063 provides us with a vision. Our national energy pacts, our trade agreements, our infrastructure frameworks—all of this provides us with plans,” emphasized Sidi Ould Tah. “The problem is not a lack of resources. It is the architecture of risk and capital.” The leader took the opportunity to recall what he described as his “four cardinal points.”
The first is to unleash the power of African capital, so that savings and institutional funds finance the continent’s development. The second is to rebuild Africa’s financial sovereignty, with NAFA as the central instrument enabling the mobilization and deployment of resources at scale and strengthening Africa’s position in global financial governance.
The third is to transform demography into an economic dividend, by supporting youth and women entrepreneurship and by developing regional value chains. The fourth aims to build resilient, high value-added infrastructure, to accelerate industrialization and foster continental economic integration.
The 39th AU Summit, held with a focus on the sustainable availability of water and sanitation systems, also marked the election of Burundian President Évariste Ndayishimiye to the rotating presidency of the African Union for 2026, succeeding Angolan President João Lourenço.
With the endorsement of NAFA, African leaders are sending a strong signal: a shared determination to build a financial architecture that aligns with the ambitions of Agenda 2063 and with the continent’s structural transformation.
