The measure of Africa’s financial-sector progress should no longer rest principally on banking-sector resilience, capital adequacy or macroeconomic stability, but on the extent to which financial institutions channel resources into productive enterprises and long-term economic development.
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, chairman of Access Holdings Plc, made the case at the African Financial Industry Summit (AFIS) 2026 in Luanda, Angola, challenging policymakers, central bankers and financial institutions to rethink the relationship between financial stability and economic prosperity.
Aig-Imoukhuede argued that Africa’s next phase of financial development must translate macroeconomic stability, stronger institutions and the growth of indigenous banking into tangible economic outcomes.
His address, themed “Making Capital Count: From Financial Stability to Productivity, Prosperity and African Integration,” came at a summit attended by more than 1,500 participants and a reported record 18 central bank governors. He described the participation as evidence of a growing continental consensus around the reforms and institutional capabilities needed to accelerate Africa’s economic transformation.
But he warned that stronger banks and improved macroeconomic conditions, on their own, would not deliver the development outcomes the continent needs.
“Stability is essential, but stability cannot be the final destination,” he said. “A financial system must do more than protect itself. It must support production, enable investment, create opportunities, and help lift people out of poverty.”
The message places the spotlight on a central weakness in Africa’s development financing architecture: the disconnect between financial-sector strength and the availability of affordable, appropriately structured capital for productive businesses.
Several African economies have made progress in managing inflation, currency volatility and financial-sector risks. These improvements provide a foundation for investment and growth. Yet, according to Aig-Imoukhuede, the real test is whether the gains are translating into enterprise development, productive investment and broad-based improvements in living standards.
A banking system can be stable, profitable and well regulated while the wider economy remains constrained by weak production, limited access to finance and inadequate investment. This, he suggested, requires African countries to rethink how they measure financial-sector success.
Inflation, capital adequacy, risk ratings and bank profitability remain important indicators, but they should be assessed alongside the extent to which financial institutions finance production, support businesses, create employment, expand productive capacity and improve living standards.
Unlocking capital trapped in commercial transactions
One of the immediate opportunities for improving capital deployment, Aig-Imoukhuede said, lies in releasing funds trapped in the everyday commercial transactions of African businesses.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) frequently supply goods and services to larger, creditworthy companies, complete their contractual obligations and then wait 90 to 120 days, or longer, to receive payment.
While the larger buyer may have the financial capacity to settle its obligations, the smaller supplier must continue to meet payroll, replenish inventory, finance operations and pursue new contracts while waiting for cash to arrive.
The result is a working-capital constraint that can prevent otherwise viable businesses from accepting new orders, expanding production or investing in growth.
Aig-Imoukhuede argued that Africa needs financial infrastructure capable of converting verified invoices into immediate financing, with the cost of borrowing reflecting the credit strength of the corporate buyer rather than the weaker balance sheet of the SME supplier.
Technology-enabled invoicing and invoice-financing models in India and Brazil, he noted, showcase how digital systems can help businesses unlock working capital tied up in commercial receivables.
The approach would turn invoices into financeable assets, allowing SMEs to access funds against confirmed payments instead of waiting for buyers to settle their bills.
Mobilising African savings for long-term investment
The second priority is to connect Africa’s domestic savings more effectively with the continent’s long-term development requirements.
Aig-Imoukhuede identified a structural mismatch between the short-term nature of many commercial bank deposits and the long-term funding needs of infrastructure, industrial development and other productive assets.
Infrastructure projects and industrial investments typically require patient capital, while banks must manage liquidity and maturity risks associated with deposits that may be withdrawn at relatively short notice.
He argued that African households and institutional investors are capable of providing long-term funding when credible investment opportunities and appropriate financial products are available.
Citing the Dangote Refinery, he called for mechanisms that would enable households, pension funds and other institutional investors to participate in financing major African projects.
His argument is that the continent cannot continue to depend excessively on foreign capital while domestic savings remain concentrated in instruments that do not adequately support productive transformation.
Government borrowing risks crowding out businesses
A further obstacle to productive capital allocation, Aig-Imoukhuede warned, is excessive public-sector borrowing, which can absorb funds that would otherwise be available to manufacturers, entrepreneurs and other private-sector businesses.
When government securities offer attractive returns with relatively low perceived risk, financial institutions and investors may have fewer incentives to finance businesses whose operations involve greater credit risk, longer repayment periods and more complex assessments.
This can create a situation in which financial institutions remain profitable and liquid, but the productive economy struggles to secure the capital required to expand.
For manufacturers and SMEs, the implications include constrained access to credit, higher financing costs and reduced capacity to invest in equipment, inventory, technology and new production lines.
Aig-Imoukhuede called for stronger coordination between monetary and fiscal authorities, arguing that central banks cannot resolve structural economic challenges through monetary policy alone.
He proposed that future AFIS gatherings bring finance and budget ministers into discussions alongside central bank governors, allowing policymakers to examine government financing requirements, debt sustainability, private-sector credit and long-term economic growth within a more coordinated framework.
African banks must turn scale into economic value
Beyond capital allocation, the Access Holdings chairman challenged African banks to rethink the value of their expansion across the continent.
He described the growth of indigenous financial institutions into markets previously dominated by international banks as a significant development, particularly as some global institutions have reduced or exited their African operations.
However, he cautioned that African ownership and geographical expansion should not, by themselves, be treated as evidence of financial-sector transformation.
Speaking about Access Bank’s presence in Angola, Aig-Imoukhuede said the ambition must extend beyond building a successful domestic banking operation. The institution must also provide customers with the international capabilities and connectivity required to compete globally.
African banks, he argued, should strengthen relationships in major international financial centres, including Group of Seven markets, while developing the clearing, payment and settlement infrastructure needed to support cross-border trade and investment.
Aig-Imoukhuede also questioned the tendency to define African financial integration primarily around the prospect of a single continental currency.
He argued that practical integration across markets, financial systems, goods, services and people must come before any meaningful discussion of monetary union.
A common currency, without the necessary institutional, financial and economic foundations, would not automatically resolve the barriers that continue to limit cross-border commerce.
He illustrated the problem through a personal experience at the summit, recounting that his chief of staff could not accompany him to Angola because of visa difficulties.
For him, the experience exposed a contradiction in Africa’s integration ambitions where policymakers speak of a connected continent while restrictions on the movement of people continue to obstruct business relationships and economic opportunities.
Financial integration, he maintained, requires accessible regional markets, greater mobility and interoperable infrastructure that allow capital and businesses to move more efficiently across national borders.
Without these foundations, the benefits of a more integrated African economy will remain difficult to realise.
Three priorities for deeper African integration
To address the challenge, Aig-Imoukhuede outlined three priorities for advancing continental integration: financial interoperability, capital-market integration and macroeconomic convergence.
The first is financial interoperability through connected infrastructure for secure and efficient cross-border payments, settlements and financial services.
Fragmented payment systems increase transaction costs, delay settlements and make intra-African trade more difficult. Interconnected infrastructure, by contrast, would enable businesses and financial institutions to move money more efficiently across markets.
The second priority is capital-market integration, which would allow investors, pension funds and other institutions in one African country to access credible investment opportunities in another.
A more connected capital market could widen the sources of funding available to businesses and infrastructure projects, while giving investors access to a broader range of productive assets beyond their domestic markets.
The third is macroeconomic convergence. Deeper financial integration will require greater alignment of economic policies and conditions across countries, providing the consistency and confidence needed for businesses, investors and financial institutions to operate across borders.
Aig-Imoukhuede asserts that together, the three priorities would help reduce the institutional and infrastructure barriers that limit the movement of capital and economic activity across the continent.
