Structural Inequality in the Global Financial System
President William Ruto has said the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) alone cannot finance Africa’s development ambitions, arguing that the current international financial system remains structurally unequal and limits the continent’s ability to fund its transformation agenda at scale.
He noted that African economies continue to face higher borrowing costs and constrained access to concessional financing, which slows infrastructure and industrial growth.
President Ruto pointed out that distorted risk perceptions and bias in global credit rating systems continue to penalize African economies, increasing the cost of capital and discouraging long-term investment in productive sectors.
He said this imbalance is neither sustainable nor just, and remains one of the principal constraints on financing infrastructure, industrialization, climate adaptation, and economic transformation across the continent.
Support for the African Credit Rating Agency
Ruto emphasized Africa’s support for the African Credit Rating Agency, describing it as a step toward fairer and more evidence-based assessment of African economies and investment opportunities.
He said the initiative is not intended to replace existing global institutions such as the IMF or World Bank, but to correct long-standing distortions in risk perception that have increased borrowing costs and discouraged investment.
He further stressed that even as reforms in the global financial system continue, Africa must rethink its financing model.
“Africa must increasingly finance Africa,” he said, noting that the continent holds more than four trillion dollars in long-term domestic savings, including over one trillion dollars in pensions and insurance assets and more than 500 billion dollars in central bank reserves.
Despite this liquidity, governments still struggle to finance infrastructure, energy systems, industrial parks, logistics networks, and affordable housing, showing that the challenge is not liquidity but risk architecture.
Kenya therefore reaffirmed its support for the alliance of African multilateral financial institutions as a platform for mobilizing capital, sharing risk and coordinating project execution.
Ruto said building a stronger and more resilient financial architecture is key to ensuring Africa’s long-term self-sustaining development and reducing overreliance on external financing channels.
