Ould Tah, who assumed office on September 1 2025, as the Bank\u2019s ninth president, presented NAFA as a bold shift in how Africa mobilises and deploys capital. He said the continent\u2019s problem was not a lack of ambition or planning, but a global financial structure that limits access to capital and entrenches risk perceptions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAfrica is not lacking in ambition. Agenda 2063 gives us a vision. Our trade agreements and energy pacts give us plans,\u201d he told leaders. \u201cThe problem is not resources. It is the architecture of risk and capital.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ould Tah said NAFA is a central pillar of the Bank\u2019s Four Cardinal Points strategy, which aims to unlock African savings, rebuild financial sovereignty, use Africa\u2019s 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\u2011reliance.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The two\u2011day AU Summit focused on the theme of ensuring sustainable access to safe water and sanitation, key priorities under Agenda 2063. Burundi\u2019s President \u00c9variste Ndayishimiye was elected AU Chair for 2026, taking over from Angola\u2019s Jo\u00e3o Louren\u00e7o.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
African leaders adopted a statement endorsing the Bank\u2019s \u201ckey initiatives\u201d and congratulated Ould Tah on his appointment. They said his leadership reflected confidence in his ability to steer Africa\u2019s 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\u2019s operationalisation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ould Tah said NAFA will help Africa move from fragmented approaches to coordinated, large\u2011scale financing systems capable of supporting industrialisation, regional integration and structural transformation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–AfDB\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":21173,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-23802","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"\nAfrican Development Bank Group (AfDB) President Sidi Ould Tah delivered his first official address to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on Sunday, setting out an ambitious vision to redefine Africa\u2019s financial sovereignty through a New African Financial Architecture (NAFA).","published_date":null,"news_description":" African Development Bank Group (AfDB) President Sidi Ould Tah delivered his first official address to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on Sunday, setting out an ambitious vision to redefine Africa\u2019s financial sovereignty through a New African Financial Architecture (NAFA).","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26662,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23802\/revisions\/26662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=23802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}