Former African Development Bank (AfDB) President Donald Kaberuka has called for a new era of strong African institutions to safeguard the continent's future in a rapidly changing global landscape. In his 2025 Babacar Ndiaye Lecture, delivered during the World Bank Group/IMF Annual Meetings in Washington DC, Kaberuka emphasized the need for Africa to take charge of its development agenda through resilient, homegrown institutions. He warned that the world is not waiting for Africa, and thus, Africa should not wait for the world.
Kaberuka identified five key trends reshaping the global economy: the return of mercantilism, rising narrow national interests, the end of the aid era, weakened global institutions, and the erosion of multilateralism. He advised that Africa must turn inward while leading the charge for a renewed global architecture. He stressed that Africa's development requires an ecosystem approach, where institutions across sectors - finance, trade, peace and security, health, and governance - operate in coordinated harmony rather than isolation.
Kaberuka praised the Africa Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for exemplifying this model through its support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the regional economic communities, and other initiatives and institutions of the continent. He also argued that Africa must lead in reshaping global governance to reflect 21st-century realities, replacing post-World War II institutions like the Bretton Woods system, which were designed for the reconstruction of Europe and Japan, not the needs of emerging African economies.
Kaberuka's call for a new era of strong African institutions highlights the need for Africa to take ownership of its development and build resilient, homegrown solutions. This message is particularly relevant as the world order continues to shift and fragment, making it crucial for Africa to prioritize its own institutions and initiatives.
