Africa’s sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are being urged to take on a more assertive, transformative role in shaping the continent’s economic future — one that prioritises measurable socio-economic impact alongside commercial returns.
Speaking at the 4th Annual Meeting of the Africa Sovereign Investors Forum (ASIF) in Abuja on Monday, Kashim Shettima, Nigeria’s vice president, called on them to shift decisively from fragmented national efforts to collective action rooted in bankable projects, transparency, and trust — key pillars, he said, would unlock long-term global capital into the continent.
He told an influential gathering of policymakers, sovereign fund executives, and development financiers that the continent cannot afford to squander the opportunity to convert its demographic and resource advantages into sustained economic transformation.
“Africa is not a continent of risk. It is a continent of returns, of resilience, and of resolve,” Shettima said.
To unlock this potential, Shettima stressed that Africa must present investable opportunities meeting international standards of bankability and governance. “Let us develop bankable pipelines that attract not only African capital but long-term global capital,” he urged, reflecting a growing consensus that Africa’s growth will only scale through well-structured, de-risked, and transparent investments.
The continent’s sovereign wealth funds, which collectively manage billions of dollars worth of assets, face mounting pressure to transcend their traditional roles as fiscal stabilisers and become engines of development.
Read also: NSIA chief urges African SWFs to attract global capital, drive social impact
Nigeria’s own Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), the event’s host, has begun pivoting toward catalytic investments in healthcare, infrastructure, renewable energy and agriculture.
Shettima praised the NSIA’s evolution, calling it “a credible, transparent, and high-performing sovereign wealth fund, demonstrating that African institutions can match global standards in governance, innovation, and impact.”
He called for such models to be replicated continent-wide, emphasising their role not only in economic development but also in building trust — “the most underpriced asset in African finance.”
“Let us commit to the highest standards of governance, transparency, and accountability, because trust is the bedrock of investment,” he added.
The vice president’s emphasis on trust resonated with delegates against the backdrop of persistent investor wariness about regulatory unpredictability, currency volatility, and weak enforcement regimes across much of the continent.
Global institutional capital, particularly from pension funds and insurance groups, remains cautious about emerging and frontier markets unless credible domestic institutions can guarantee rule-based systems and clear exit mechanisms.
To counter this, Shettima emphasised the role of ASIF — a pan-African platform designed to unify the voice and strategy of sovereign investors — as a venue for collaboration, not just conversation.
“This platform represents a decisive shift from parallel action to collective ambition,” he said of ASIF’s newly launched investment platform, a co-investment vehicle intended to pool capital and scale up participation in cross-border, high-impact projects.
“By pooling capital, harmonising standards, and jointly investing… we are reshaping the global investment narrative,” he said.
Observers see this as recognition that individual sovereign funds cannot meet Africa’s vast financing needs alone — particularly in infrastructure and climate resilience, which require hundreds of billions of dollars in investment over the coming decade.
With global capital increasingly guided by ESG principles and long-term impact, Shettima urged sovereign funds to embrace their dual role as commercial investors and development catalysts.
“The choices we make today, the institutions we build, and the partnerships we forge will determine whether we rise to the promise of this century,” he concluded. “Let this meeting mark a new chapter where Africa’s sovereign wealth funds are not just custodians of wealth, but architects of transformation.”
The ASIF summit, themed “Leveraging African Sovereign Wealth Funds to Mobilise Global Capital for Transformative Development in Africa,” comes as the continent seeks a stronger foothold in global capital markets.
Wale Edun, finance minister and coordinating minister of the economy, reinforced the call for sovereign funds to evolve beyond wealth preservation and fiscal stabilisation into proactive instruments of economic transformation.
Edun highlighted the need for the funds to become co-developers capable of structuring and scaling blended capital platforms that meet the risk-adjusted return expectations of global institutional investors.
He cited NSIA’s homegrown innovations such as the Infrastructure Debt Fund and the Infrastructure credit guarantee company as examples of how African sovereign funds can lead in capital mobilisation and market creation.
“The NSIA has played a crucial role in capital mobilisation, positioning itself as a leading capital provider and a trusted entry for global investors,” Edun said.
He also praised regional cooperation on initiatives like the World Bank’s Mission 300, developed with NSIA, Africa50, and Sustainable Energy for All, aimed at scaling renewable energy investments in underserved African communities.
As Africa faces a $100 billion annual infrastructure financing gap, Edun underscored three imperatives for sovereign wealth funds: capital mobilisation at scale, regional and continental collaboration, and human capital and policy alignment.
“The world is watching Africa — not just for its potential but for its readiness,” he said.
“Sovereign wealth funds are central to that readiness. By acting boldly, transparently and strategically, we can position Africa as a destination for capital, not aid.”
Also, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, NSIA’s MD/CEO, in his welcome speech, urged African sovereign wealth funds to transcend their traditional roles as custodians of finance and become global capital mobilisers and agents of social transformation.
Addressing the summit, Umar-Sadiq called for a broader dual mandate: balancing rigorous wealth preservation with the urgent need for sustainable, inclusive development.
“We are not merely fund managers, but nation builders, market-makers, and indeed catalysts of trust,” he said, encapsulating the summit’s theme.
He laid out a strategic framework to transition African sovereign wealth funds from passive investors to active global players, including: balancing catalytic investments with long-term wealth protection; creating vehicles that mobilise international capital while delivering commercial and social returns; and repositioning African funds as credible, strategic partners for global institutional investors.
“Our focus,” Umar-Sadiq said, “is on how Africa Sovereign Wealth Funds, through effective domestic, continental, and global partnerships, can achieve three objectives.”
These include acting both as “risk-takers saddled with the responsibility of catalysing economic impact” and “conservative investors managing wealth for our future generations”; co-creating sustainable investment platforms appealing to financial and developmental priorities; and establishing themselves as partners with the “right blend of domestic influence and capital” to attract global investors.
The summit, convened top officials from government and sovereign funds, development finance institutions, global capital partners.
Jumoke Oduwole, Nigeria’s industry minister; Benedict Oramah, Afreximbank president; and leaders from Africa50 and Africa Finance Corporation also attended. Several strategic investment agreements were signed during the two-day event.
Umar-Sadiq emphasised that Africa is no longer waiting on foreign decisions from Washington, London, or Beijing. Instead, it is building its own investment platforms and institutional capacity to originate opportunities, structure partnerships, and align growth with local impact.
“It is rare that we have in one room the policymakers who shape regulations, capital providers who take risks, entrepreneurs who create groundbreaking projects, and DFIs who unlock financing,” he said, calling the forum a convergence point for execution, not just dialogue.
He highlighted trust and credibility as Africa’s most underutilised assets, urging sovereign wealth funds to serve as co-investors and de-risking partners.
“The true value of our efforts lies not only in the capital we attract, but more importantly in the lives we impact and the opportunities we create for future generations,” Umar-Sadiq said.
Patrick Otieno Lumumba, renowned pan-African scholar warned that Africa’s greatness will not come as a gift but must be reclaimed through deliberate action, investment, and sovereignty.
He urged sovereign funds to end “overdependence on the U.S. dollar” and invest Africa’s wealth within the continent.
“What we do here, what we say here, will only have meaning if they are cascaded to them (Africa’s poor) and it improves the quality of their lives,” Lumumba said, emphasising that development must be driven by and for Africans.
Challenging what he called outdated economic models, he lamented, “We still get the mood of our economies through the Moodys. We still wait for our budget to be approved by the World Bank and the IMF… We still, when we want money, go to the Eurobond, not the Afro bond.”
He highlighted the paradox of Africa’s wealth and poverty. “Africa is the most resource-rich continent on earth… But yet, ironically and diabolically, we are still poor,” he said, mocking perceptions of African currencies: “The Naira is not hard, it is soft. The Cedi is not hard, it is soft… Even our sovereign funds… are still denominated in the American dollar.”
Calling for urgent action, Lumumba noted that Africa sovereign funds must be invested in the continent.
” Let us make Africa great again because she was once great.”
“Nobody is going to do it. We must work at it. We can do it. We must do it.”
