President William Ruto has called on African countries to harness their own financial resources to fund critical infrastructure projects. Saying overdependence on foreign financing continues to slow the continent’s growth and development
According to President, the excessive reliance on foreign financing continues to make the continent less dynamic, and this is the main reason why Africa is still lagging behind in growth and development.
“We must harness the immense capital within Africa to drive infrastructure development our nations urgently require. To achieve this, we must mobilise financing internally and equally support African financial institutions.” Ruto said
This came to light when President Ruto on Thursday delivered his keynote speech during the inaugural conference of The Africa We Build Summit in Nairobi.
According to President, it is only through prioritizing raising resources from within the country and strengthening their financial systems by the countries that the different development aspects of Africa can be realized.
He cites heavy dependence on foreign capital as one of the reasons why the building of major infrastructure projects like roads ports airports, and oil refinery has been delayed for a long time despite the continent having a large economic potential.
In his motivational speech to African leaders, President Ruto asked them to set up effective national financing mechanisms that can be used to develop infrastructural facilities in the long run while at the same time reducing their exposure to foreign lenders.
Deepening regional integration will also be necessary since it will open up roadways for African nations to take advantage of both their natural and economic complementarities for mutual benefits, he remarked.
In line with these, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni remarked that the region is very well endowed with financial resources that are sufficient to help in implementation of world-class infrastructure projects without making them overly reliant on foreign funding.
This event will be organized together by the Government of Kenya and the African Finance Corporation.
