The United Bank for Africa (UBA) is set to unveil a landmark whitepaper titled “Banking on Africa’s Future: Unlocking Capital and Partnerships for Sustainable Growth” at the World Bank–IMF Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C. The initiative aims to strengthen Africa’s financial systems, mobilize capital, and drive inclusive and sustainable growth across the continent.
The United Bank for Africa (UBA) is set to unveil a landmark whitepaper titled “Banking on Africa’s Future: Unlocking Capital and Partnerships for Sustainable Growth”. The whitepaper lays out key strategies to reform Africa’s financial infrastructure, focusing on trade finance, digital innovation, infrastructure development, and regional integration. Tony Elumelu, president of Heirs Holdings, United Bank for Africa, emphasized the need for Africa to invest heavily in infrastructure and digital capacity to harness the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other transformative technologies. Referring to a recent African Finance Corporation (AFC) report, he highlighted that Africa has the capacity to mobilize over US$4 trillion from within the continent but must urgently create mechanisms to channel this capital into development.
The challenge for all of us governments, private financial institutions and developing financial institutions on the continent is how we can harness and utilise this. It’s not just about Africa rising and all those things. We must begin to mobilise our energy and capital to work for the African people, so that we are not left behind in the next digital revolution.
TONY ELUMELU, Group Chairman, UBA – Nigeria
The outgoing President of Afreximbank, Benedict Oramah commended UBA’s intellectual leadership, noting that Africa’s key challenge remains the problem of capital. He argued that while capital is abundant, it is often fragmented and inaccessible.He highlighted Afreximbank’s Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), integrating 42 national currencies to enable trade within Africa without foreign exchange dependence. Benedict Oramah also revealed a pilot project linking five African stock exchanges, allowing investors to buy and sell shares across borders in local currencies — a move expected to enhance liquidity and reduce sovereign debt risks.
The biggest source of sovereign debt on the continent is our reliance on foreign currencies to finance infrastructure. So let’s see what we can do to reduce it. For example, an Egyptian contractor is building a road project in Ghana. Instead of Ghana borrowing US dollars or euros to pay the contractor, the Ghanaian government pays them in a Ghanaian city. The Ghanaian government pays them in Ghanaian city. The Egyptian contractor receives Egyptian pounds. This means that the borrowing that would have happened will not happen. Over time, this will help to reduce the main problem we face on the continent: the problem of sovereign debt.
Benedict Oramah, President of Afreximbank – Nigeria
With operations in 20 African countries and major global financial hubs, UBA aims to position itself as a leading catalyst for regional integration and private-sector-led development. Analysts say the success of this initiative will depend on how effectively UBA and African governments translate the whitepaper’s vision into concrete investment actions that strengthen the continent’s financial foundation.
