Oyedele at UNGA: ‘Africa needs affordable capital to finance infrastructure’

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, has called for a major shift in the global approach to financing Africa’s development, urging the international community to make affordable, long-term capital available for infrastructure and energy projects across the continent.

Oyedele, who made the call at the United Nations Dialogue on Solutions to Climate Finance on the margins of the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA, in New York, said high financing costs, currency risks and limited access to long-term capital were constraining Africa’s development ambitions.

According to a statement by the Head of Information and Public Relations, Ministry of Finance, Efe Ovuakporie, the minister said Africa’s financing challenges were particularly acute in the energy sector, where massive investment was required to bridge the continent’s huge energy-access deficit.

He said Africa, despite its relatively low contribution to global carbon emissions, continues to face what he described as a “prejudice premium” and “narrative cost” when seeking financing for critical infrastructure.

Oyedele also identified currency risks and what he termed “stereotype tax” as additional costs confronting African countries seeking to mobilise capital for infrastructure and other development assets.

He, therefore, called for a strategic rethink of climate finance, with financing arrangements designed to reflect the development realities of developing countries and provide simpler access to affordable capital.

The minister also advocated increased investment in natural gas and other transition energy sources in Africa, arguing that the continent needed reliable and affordable energy to tackle poverty and support economic development.

He said greater investment in Africa’s energy sector would not only address energy poverty but also diversify global energy supplies and reduce concentration risks, particularly in the face of disruptions affecting the Gulf region.

Oyedele stressed that Africa’s energy transition must be anchored on the continent’s development needs, given its significant energy-access gap, adding that African countries needed greater investment to expand electricity and other energy infrastructure while pursuing a practical transition towards cleaner energy sources.

The minister said the global climate-finance framework should therefore accommodate the different circumstances of developing countries rather than impose financing conditions that could further constrain their development.

For Nigeria, Oyedele said the immediate priority was to design and implement policies and programmes capable of reducing poverty, expanding economic opportunities and accelerating the distribution of shared prosperity.

He noted that achieving these objectives would require stronger international cooperation and a financing framework that would enable developing countries to mobilise the capital needed to invest in infrastructure and improve the living standards of their people.