Africa holds capital needed for its own transformation, says Aig-Imoukhuede
Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, chairman, Coronation Group, has said that Africa holds the capital needed for its own transformation.
According to him, “the question is whether we possess the institutional courage to deploy it. We have pension funds sitting in low-yield government securities whilst transformative businesses struggle for growth capital.”
Aig-Imoukhuede noted this ahead of his featuring on the opening panel at the 2025 Africa Financial Summit (AFIS) on Monday November 3 in Casablanca.
He will be joining Ministers and IFC Managing Director in landmark panel, setting the tone for the continent’s financial sovereignty.
The flagship session titled – “Unlocking Africa’s Financial Power: Time to Mobilise Domestic Capital at Scale” will set the strategic foundation for two days of critical dialogue on Africa’s financial sovereignty, addressing the continent’s most urgent question: How can Africa harness trillions of untapped domestic capital to fund its own transformation?
Speaking further ahead of the summit, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede said: “We have insurance assets parked safely whilst infrastructure gaps widen. This is not a capital scarcity problem; it is an allocation problem, a trust problem, and ultimately, a leadership problem.
“AFIS represents a moment of reckoning. Will Africa’s financial institutions rise to finance Africa’s future, or will we remain comfortable custodians of untapped potential? At Coronation, we have made our choice: to build the integrated infrastructure that channels African capital towards African prosperity.”
Read also: Africa CEO Forum 2025: Aig-Imoukhuede to headline conversation on family-owned businesses
AFIS 2025 convenes over 1,000 financial services leaders under the theme Unlocking Africa’s Financial Sovereignty: From Savings to Strategic Power.
Joining Aig-Imoukhuede on this consequential panel are Nadia Fettah Alaoui, Minister of Economy and Finance, Kingdom of Morocco; Makhtar Diop, Managing Director, International Finance Corporation (IFC); and Cheikh Diba, Minister of Finance and Budget, Republic of Senegal, a gathering of minds uniquely positioned to chart Africa’s path from external dependency to self-directed prosperity.
The panel confronts stark realities: the African Development Bank’s 2025 economic outlook warns that “external dependency is not a good development strategy.” Despite last year’s 75 percent surge in foreign direct investment, leaner times approach as US tariffs and geopolitical tensions trigger aid reductions and subdued global activity.
Africa must now look inward to trillions held in pension funds, sovereign wealth vehicles, insurance assets, commercial banks, fintech platforms, and foreign exchange reserves.
The discussion will examine how debt-burdened African nations can utilise this vast capital pool to transform 1.55 billion Africans into active capital market participants, thereby funding under-resourced MSMEs, critical energy infrastructure, and digital innovation that drives continental development.
Key themes include mobilising institutional capital away from the safety of government debt into productive private sector investment; supporting African champions in sectors dominated by international players; and leveraging fintech platforms to channel domestic savings into transformational enterprise.
With expertise spanning Investment Banking, Insurance, Asset Management, and Technology, Coronation Group brings practical experience in mobilising domestic capital across Africa’s most challenging markets, a perspective that positions Aig-Imoukhuede as both contributor and catalyst in this defining conversation.
