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•Urges easier credit, stronger banks, integration
Chairman of Access Holdings Plc, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, has urged African banks to move beyond making profits and maintaining financial stability to financing businesses, infrastructure and job creation to accelerate economic growth across the continent.
He warned that Africa’s economic progress would remain limited if banks continued to record strong profits while businesses struggled to access credit and millions of people lacked economic opportunities.
Aig-Imoukhuede spoke at the closing session of the Africa Financial Summit (AFIS) 2026 in Luanda, Angola, where he also called for stronger African-owned banks, easier access to financing and deeper financial integration before the continent considers adopting a common currency.
Speaking on the summit’s theme, *Making Capital Count: Unlocking Growth Through African Finance*, he said the performance of financial institutions should be measured by their contributions to economic growth, job creation and improved living standards, rather than profitability alone.
“A banking system can be well, can be as safe as you want it to be, it can be profitable, but then it can still serve an economy that is very underperforming,” he said.
He identified poor access to working capital as one of the major challenges facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), noting that many businesses struggle to obtain loans even when supplying goods and services to financially strong companies.
“When an SME supplies goods to a creditworthy buyer, that SME should be able to attract capital and financing at the same cost of the credit rating of that buyer immediately,” he said.
Citing India and Brazil as examples, he urged African banks and regulators to adopt digital invoicing systems that would make it easier for businesses to secure financing and expand their operations.
The Access Holdings chairman also called for greater investment of pension funds and domestic savings in infrastructure, warning against relying on short-term bank deposits to finance projects that require long-term funding.
“We can’t use bank deposits, which can be withdrawn tomorrow, to finance long-term projects which require 20-year money,” he said.
He cited the Dangote Refinery as an example of the large-scale investments Africa needs to support economic development, while warning that excessive government borrowing could crowd out private businesses seeking funds to expand.
On the banking industry, Aig-Imoukhuede said the withdrawal of some international banks from Africa had created opportunities for indigenous financial institutions to expand their operations.
However, he cautioned that African ownership alone would not guarantee success, stressing the need for local banks to compete with leading global financial institutions in service delivery and operational capacity.
“We must translate the scale we are building into globally competitive value,” he said.
Using Access Bank’s operations in Angola as an example, he said the group was working to provide banking services that could compete with those of leading international banks.
He urged African financial institutions to strengthen payment systems, expand their international operations and improve connections with global financial markets.
On continental integration, Aig-Imoukhuede said fragmented markets and restrictions on cross-border business activities continued to limit Africa’s economic potential.
“Integration must precede monetary union,” he said, urging African governments to remove barriers to trade, investment and the movement of people before pursuing a common currency.
He illustrated the challenges with an experience involving his chief of staff, who could not accompany him to Angola because of visa difficulties, questioning how Africa could build an integrated financial market while such restrictions persisted.
He identified compatible financial infrastructure, integrated markets and closer coordination of economic policies as important steps towards achieving meaningful continental integration.
Aig-Imoukhuede also called for African businesses to enjoy easier access to financing across national borders and urged governments and financial institutions to channel more pension funds into infrastructure development instead of concentrating investments in government securities.
He said Africa’s financial progress should ultimately be measured by how effectively its banks create business opportunities, generate employment, reduce poverty and improve the living standards of citizens, rather than simply expanding their balance sheets.
