Heads of Africa’s regional economic communities (Recs) have thrown their weight behind a new framework aimed at mobilising large-scale domestic capital to bridge the continent’s development financing gap.
The New African Financial Architecture (NAFA) also seeks to strengthen Africa’s financial sovereignty and enhance the continent’s ability to fund its own development. Support for the framework was affirmed at a high-level meeting convened by African Development Bank Group president Sidi Ould Tah, held on the sidelines of the 39th African Union Summit this week.
The meeting brought together chief executives from AU-recognised Recs, including the Arab Maghreb Union, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), Community of Sahel-Saharan States, Economic Community of Central African States, Economic Community of West African States , Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and Southern African Development Community, alongside the AfCFTA Secretariat secretary-general Wamkele Mene.
In his opening remarks, Ould Tah emphasised the urgency of moving beyond fragmented systems to a coordinated financial architecture that could unlock Africa’s capital potential, rebuild financial sovereignty, create jobs for youth, and scale transformative infrastructure while promoting industrialisation. “NAFA is not just a financial plan; it is a blueprint for Africa’s economic transformation,” he said.
“It points to a future where Africa finances its development on its terms, through collaboration, coherence, and leadership.”
As a vital pillar of Ould Tah’s “Four Cardinal Points” strategic vision, NAFA serves as the primary engine for reforming Africa’s financial systems and amplifying its unified voice in the global arena.
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The meeting marks a decisive step in aligning regional priorities with a locally anchored financial model to drive sustainable growth and resilience across the continent.
The regional leaders welcomed the NAFA initiative and shared concrete actions their communities are undertaking to scale up investment in cross-border infrastructure, industrialisation and private sector development. They also highlighted the importance of co-financing platforms, regional implementation capacity and guarantees to de-risk investment pipelines.
Furthermore, the need to curb illicit financial flows was highlighted as a critical factor in strengthening domestic resource mobilisation, given their persistent impact on fiscal sustainability, governance, and Africa’s ability to mobilise its own resources for development.
African Union Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism, Industry and Minerals, Francisca Belobe, called for deeper coordination among African institutions and financial actors to tackle fragmentation, strengthen implementation, and position African enterprises at the centre of growth opportunities.
She urged Recs to play a leading role in identifying and supporting African corporate champions, stating that “Recs must help position African enterprises at the centre of Africa’s investment and growth opportunities.”
According Belobe, this approach is essential to anchor industrialisation, strengthen regional value chains, and ensure that Africa’s development is driven by African-led economic actors.
Mene welcomed NAFA as a timely accelerator for Africa’s industrialisation and AfCFTA implementation. He underscored the importance of addressing Africa’s infrastructure deficit and leveraging its critical minerals to support regional value chains and sustainable industrial growth.
Chileshe Kapwepwe, Comesa secretary-general, expressed the importance of Recs“to provide the wheels of integration that NAFA requires to originate and package cross-border projects into investable pipelines and foster effective regional cooperation.”
“We need to spend more time, effort and resources, in market research so that we can clearly identify gaps, then support policy harmonisation and conduct critical skills audits which would inform targeted training, including in new technologies such as AI,” she said.
The high-level session concluded with a shared commitment to bridging the gap between regional policy and economic impact through three key pillars.
These are deepening coordination among the bank group, RECs, and African financial institutions; ensuring strategic alignment of flagship regional projects with NAFA investment priorities; and promoting accountable impact, ensuring results are measurable, inclusive, and transformational.
This strategic roundtable on the margins of the 2026 AU Summit positions NAFA as a central platform for mobilising Africa’s wealth more effectively, rapidly, and at scale to support the continent’s development ambitions. The African Development Bank Group will consolidate the outcomes into an implementation road map and maintain sustained, high-level engagement with key partners to translate Africa’s Agenda 2063 into concrete, large-scale results.