As global investors become increasingly selective and geopolitical tensions reshape international capital flows, African countries must do more to finance their own growth by unlocking domestic wealth rather than relying heavily on foreign investment, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Yemi Cardoso has said.
Speaking at the Emerging Markets Forum in Abuja on Wednesday, Cardoso said Africa should mobilise its vast pension assets, insurance funds, domestic savings and diaspora wealth to build productive industries capable of creating jobs and strengthening the continent’s economic resilience.
“Capital has become selective and impatient,” Cardoso said, warning that the changing global economic order demands a different development strategy for emerging markets.
His remarks come as African governments face tighter global financial conditions, with rising borrowing costs, slower foreign direct investment inflows and growing competition for international capital.
At the same time, institutional investors across the continent are managing rapidly expanding pools of long-term savings that economists increasingly argue could play a larger role in financing infrastructure and industrial development.
