Ould Tah, who assumed office on September 1 2025, as the Bank’s ninth president, presented NAFA as a bold shift in how Africa mobilises and deploys capital. He said the continent’s problem was not a lack of ambition or planning, but a global financial structure that limits access to capital and entrenches risk perceptions.
“Africa is not lacking in ambition. Agenda 2063 gives us a vision. Our trade agreements and energy pacts give us plans,” he told leaders. “The problem is not resources. It is the architecture of risk and capital.”
Ould Tah said NAFA is a central pillar of the Bank’s Four Cardinal Points strategy, which aims to unlock African savings, rebuild financial sovereignty, use Africa’s demographic strengths to drive growth and scale up resilient infrastructure across the continent. He described NAFA as a deliberate reorganisation of how African capital is mobilised, coordinated and invested, shifting from dependence on external funding towards self‑reliance.
The two‑day AU Summit focused on the theme of ensuring sustainable access to safe water and sanitation, key priorities under Agenda 2063. Burundi’s President Évariste Ndayishimiye was elected AU Chair for 2026, taking over from Angola’s João Lourenço.
African leaders adopted a statement endorsing the Bank’s “key initiatives” and congratulated Ould Tah on his appointment. They said his leadership reflected confidence in his ability to steer Africa’s premier development institution. The Summit also welcomed his strategic orientation rooted in the Four Cardinal Points and called for an update in six months on NAFA’s operationalisation.
Ould Tah said NAFA will help Africa move from fragmented approaches to coordinated, large‑scale financing systems capable of supporting industrialisation, regional integration and structural transformation.
–AfDB/ChannelAfrica–
