African Union Calls for urgent reforms to Global Financial System to Unlock the Continent's Full Potential

 

Addis Ababa, July 1, 2025 (ENA)— At the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4), African Union Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf underscored the urgent need to reform the global financial architecture as a critical step toward unlocking Africa’s full potential.

The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) opened on Monday in Sevilla with the adoption of the Sevilla Commitment, an intergovernmentally negotiated outcome that lays the foundation for a renewed global framework for financing development.

Commitments include steps to close the $4 trillion financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), address the debt crises, and reform the rules of the system to make the international financial system fairer and more transparent, putting people’s needs at the center, and injecting new hope for people around the world.

 

Delivering a keynote speech at the FID4 event in in Sevilla, Spain on “Leveraging Private Business & Finance,” the Chairperson African Union Commission called for urgent reforms to the global financial system to unlock Africa’s full potential.

He emphasized that private business and finance are not merely complementary, but catalytic for inclusive growth, job creation, and the green transition.

Youssouf also noted the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a game-changer for the continent and urged greater support for MSMEs, sustainable finance, and foreign direct investment.

 

“Africa is young, resource-rich, and ready,” he pointed out.

The chairperson further stated that: “Let’s align capital with our development priorities and build a 21st-century financial architecture that works for all.”