Africa Day 2025 is one other likelihood to mirror on these timeless items of knowledge, and to have fun the exceptional African people and establishments who’re actively strolling the discuss, and funding it.
Throughout us there may be proof that the best way ahead for unleashing Africa’s potential lies in daring motion by and for the continent — mobilising commerce and funding, deepening cooperation, financing SMEs, supporting the subsequent era of African enterprise champions — and never hand-wringing. To borrow the phrases of the late Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem’s electronic mail signature: “Do not agonise; Organise!”
For me, Africa Day — celebrated yearly on 25 Might — readily brings to thoughts one exceptional particular person and one pivotal establishment. The person is Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, a revered scholar and passionate pan-Africanist, whose life was tragically lower quick on Africa Day in 2009, at simply 48 years outdated.
The establishment is the UBA Group, partially due to an invite I acquired from them, in 2020, to be on a panel, themed “Home Insurance policies, Regional Growth and a World Agenda: SDGs and African Growth at a Crossroad”, organised to commemorate Africa Day that 12 months.
The e-mail invitation included this paragraph: “As a number one pan African Financial institution with subsidiaries in 20 African nations and operations within the UK, USA and presence in France, UBA is continually in search of to advertise the Unity of Africa. It’s who we’re.” Since then I’ve intently adopted the Financial institution’s enthusiastic celebration of Africa Day every year.
I’ve one other private story that captures the importance of the ‘A’ in U-B-A. Some years in the past, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, I met an American gentleman, funding banker and artwork collector, who, upon listening to I used to be Nigerian, shared two memorable hyperlinks to the continent.
The primary was his participation, as an adolescent, in an epic street journey from Paris to Lagos within the Sixties. The second was going forward to serve, within the Seventies, on the board of UBA, representing one of many Financial institution’s worldwide shareholders. In my thoughts, the story of that enthralling trans-Saharan journey blended seamlessly with that of the financial institution that now proudly describes itself as “Africa’s world financial institution.”
Now, one other Africa Day is right here, presenting a chance to mirror on the continent’s journey, and on the obligations confronting us as Africans dedicated to African progress.
As we have fun the 2025 Africa Day, we honour the efforts of activists and advocates like Abdul-Raheem, in addition to monetary establishments just like the UBA which are channeling assets in direction of attaining a very powerful mission after political independence: fiscal liberation. An crucial that has turn out to be much more pressing, given the best way American politics is upending the worldwide financial order.
It is price taking a second to recall the unconventional origins of the Day. It was instituted to mark the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) — the precursor of the African Union — established at a defining second for the continent: When nations have been gaining independence and attempting to return to phrases with what this meant, in opposition to the backdrop of a complicated and intensifying Chilly Conflict.
The selection of Ethiopia — considered one of solely two African nations by no means colonised — as the positioning for the OAU’s headquarters was profoundly symbolic, reflecting the daring, revolutionary spirit of the organisation’s founding fathers. Because the New York Occasions famous in its protection of the 1964 OAU Summit, “Assaults on colonialism dominated the speeches and resolutions.”
That spirit of radicalism is now greater than ever wanted by the continent — however in motion, not simply rhetoric. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem embodied this stance; stridently calling for “giving African citizenship to all Africans wherever they might be”, and for fully borderless intra-African commerce; this lengthy earlier than the African Continental Free Commerce Space grew to become a actuality.
As we have fun the 2025 Africa Day, we honour the efforts of activists and advocates like Abdul-Raheem, in addition to monetary establishments just like the UBA which are channeling assets in direction of attaining a very powerful mission after political independence: fiscal liberation. An crucial that has turn out to be much more pressing, given the best way American politics is upending the worldwide financial order.
It appears like a cliché to say that Africa stands at a crossroads. However it’s true, as many cliches are. For the continent, this decade started in probably the most disruptive method potential, with COVID-19 laying naked grave and disturbing inequalities in world vaccine entry. Shortly after, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, disrupting grain provides and pushing many nations to the brink of starvation. And now, the US commerce tariffs and the dwindling of world help funding.
All these shocks have include very important classes, that in the end Africa has to look out for itself; that it should prioritise creating the capability to feed itself and construct the manufacturing worth chains required to supply important items. Nobody else will do it for us.
We additionally need to put within the onerous work required to mobilise investments into transformational tasks, throughout power, agriculture, transport and logistics, healthcare, training and skilling, manufacturing, and different areas.
There’s certainly loads of causes to be optimistic, excited even, about what the long run holds for the continent — not least of which is a youthful inhabitants that can gasoline world financial development within the a long time forward. And, regardless of many challenges, regardless of geopolitical and financial shocks, regardless of the uncharted waters that lie forward, it seems that we’re in an period of unprecedented African confidence and ambition.
The cruel classes of the final 5 years have since spurred African establishments to step up impressively; lending urgency to the implementation of the AfCFTA; birthing the African Pharmaceutical Expertise Basis to construct the continent’s capability to supply medicines and vaccines; and propelling UBA Group right into a landmark $6 billion settlement with the African Continental Free Commerce Space (AfCFTA), for financing SMEs throughout the continent.
After which, simply this 12 months, African Union Heads of State authorised the institution of an African Credit score Ranking Company, and an African Monetary Stability Mechanism; two vital initiatives that can remake the African monetary panorama. Additionally this 12 months an African Vitality Financial institution will likely be taking off, and in 2028, the African Central Financial institution is scheduled to start operations.
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There’s certainly loads of causes to be optimistic, excited even, about what the long run holds for the continent — not least of which is a youthful inhabitants that can gasoline world financial development within the a long time forward. And, regardless of many challenges, regardless of geopolitical and financial shocks, regardless of the uncharted waters that lie forward, it seems that we’re in an period of unprecedented African confidence and ambition.
We now need to translate these attributes into true and enduring development and prosperity that leaves no African behind. Betting on Africa is a no brainer, because the UBA story demonstrates: In 2024, 51.7 per cent of the full Group income got here from operations exterior Nigeria, i.e. the twenty African nations they function in, in addition to the UK, UAE, USA and France. In 2019, this determine was 31 per cent.
Throughout us there may be proof that the best way ahead for unleashing Africa’s potential lies in daring motion by and for the continent — mobilising commerce and funding, deepening cooperation, financing SMEs, supporting the subsequent era of African enterprise champions — and never hand-wringing. To borrow the phrases of the late Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem’s electronic mail signature: “Do not agonise; Organise!”
And within the phrases of Tony Elumelu, the group chairman of UBA, “Nobody however us will develop Africa” — a core perception and driving power behind Africapitalism, which emphasises the significance of Africans proudly owning and main the continent’s growth.
Africa Day 2025 is one other likelihood to mirror on these timeless items of knowledge, and to have fun the exceptional African people and establishments who’re actively strolling the discuss, and funding it.
Stumbling writes from Abuja, Nigeria.
