May 12, (THEWILL) — African leaders on Tuesday intensified calls for sweeping reforms to the global financial system, demanding fairer access to credit and lower borrowing costs during the second day of the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, Kenya.
The campaign gained fresh momentum after French President Emmanuel Macron backed the creation of a “first loss guarantee” mechanism aimed at reducing investment risks and unlocking greater private capital flows into African economies.
Macron said he would table the proposal at next month’s G7 summit in Evian-les-Bains, France, as African governments push for a global financial reset that they say is critical to the continent’s development ambitions.
THEWILL reports that Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu is among over 30 African heads of state, leaders of multilateral financial institutions, and business executives from Africa and France, attending the summit, which is the first major France-backed Africa investment gathering hosted in an English-speaking African country.
African governments have long argued that the continent is unfairly perceived as excessively risky by international lenders and investors, leading to significantly higher borrowing costs compared to developed economies.
Speaking during the summit, Kenyan President William Ruto said Africa’s challenge was not the absence of capital but structural flaws within the global financial system.
“The issue is not liquidity. It is risk architecture,” Ruto said, as he renewed calls for reforms that would allow African economies to access financing on fairer terms.
Ruto, who was invited by Macron to attend the G7 summit, is expected to continue lobbying for reforms targeted at reducing financing costs and improving investor confidence across the continent.
The summit also brought renewed scrutiny on global credit rating agencies, which African governments accuse of exaggerating investment risks and worsening debt pressures through what they describe as unfair assessments.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres supported Africa’s position, saying the continent continues to face disproportionately high borrowing costs despite its economic potential.
“African countries face borrowing costs that are on average twice as high as those of advanced economies. That is not a market verdict on Africa. It is a verdict on the injustices of the system,” Guterres said.
African leaders say the current financing structure continues to hinder investments in infrastructure, energy, industrialisation, healthcare, and climate resilience, despite growing opportunities across the continent.
However, leading global ratings agencies including S&P Global Ratings, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings have rejected allegations of regional bias, insisting their assessments are based on globally accepted methodologies and publicly available economic data.
Macron’s proposed guarantee mechanism forms part of broader international efforts to attract more private investment into African economies at a time when several developed nations are cutting development financing in favour of defence spending and domestic economic priorities.
The French president said the Nairobi summit had already helped mobilise about 23 billion euros in investments across Africa, while also serving as a platform to rebuild and deepen economic partnerships between France and African nations.
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