How IFC plans to use fintech and cash flow to finance African MSMEs.
At AFIS in Luanda, Angola, Makhtar Diop laid out how fintech and local-currency lending could help more businesses borrow and grow.
African enterprises are being strangled by short-term dollar debt, over-leveraged balance sheets, and administrative red tape, threatening the continent’s ability to generate employment for its fast-growing youth population.
Delivering his address at the Africa Financial Industry Summit (AFIS) in Luanda on Tuesday, Makhtar Diop, Managing Director of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) , issued a blunt assessment of Africa’s structural capital mismatch.
Addressing central bank governors, finance ministers, and commercial bank executives, Diop argued that while the continent’s projected 4.5% economic growth is notable amid global headwinds, it remains insufficient to absorb millions of young entrants into the labour market. With advanced economies cutting foreign aid budgets and domestic fiscal space severely constrained by inflation and public debt, Diop warned that Africa can no longer depend on external development assistance. Instead, domestic and international savings must be mobilised into productive enterprise through local-currency credit, long-term debt, and equity. “When we talk to leaders across the continent, they all raise the same challenge: how can we create jobs for our very young population?” Diop said.
MSEApp News is publishing an original rewrite of this tip for readers, based on reporting associated with TechCabal.