ABUJA, Nigeria, September 17, 2025/APO Group: African economists and development leaders have called for sweeping governance reforms, stronger domestic resource mobilization, and innovative partnerships to accelerate economic transformation across the continent’s transition states.
This was highlighted during a high-level Policy Dialogue hosted by the African Development Institute (ADI) of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) at the 66th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES) in Abuja, in a session themed, “Driving Africa’s Economic Transformation in Transition States: The Role of Capacity Development and Knowledge Management”.
Unveiling the session, African Development Bank Director General for the Nigeria Country Department, Abdul Kamara urged Africa to accelerate growth to 7 percent annually and a per capita Growth target of 3.5 percent for four to five decades with a view to meeting the African Union’s Agenda 2063 targets.
“Africa requires $811 billion per annum in financing to achieve inclusive growth and sustainable development. Yet the continent faces a funding gap of about $680 billion each year,” Kamara commented. “Transition states alone require $210 billion annually, with a shortfall of $188 billion.”
He stressed that inclusive growth geared towards job creation, youth and women empowerment, and reducing structural bottlenecks, is inimical to the bank’s strategy, stressing initiatives such as Nigeria’s $618 million iDICE program to spur innovation and the creative economy.
On the other hand, Director of the ADI Eric Ogunleye has underscored the urgency of addressing fragility, noting that 24 African countries are now classified as transition states, up from 22 just in the last four years. “Over 250 million Africans are directly impacted by fragility, with more than 44 million forcibly displaced by mid-2024,” Ogunleye said. “Conflict-affected countries have suffered a 20 percent drop in growth with significant declines in social outcomes, as resources are diverted from infrastructure and health to fighting causes of fragility.”
Both AfDB officials emphasized that sustained transformation calls for not only financial resources but also investments in capacity development and knowledge management. “Capacity is crucial to policymaking and institution-building,” Ogunleye said. “We must move away from copy-and-paste policies and develop locally relevant and tailored strategies rooted in indigenous and unique knowledge of the environment.”
On financing, Faculty Member of the Policy Lab Unit at ADI Adeyemi Dipeolu and erstwhile Advisor to the President of Nigeria on Economic Matters, highlighted Africa’s low tax-to-GDP ratio of 17 percent compared to 29 percent in Latin America and 26 percent in East Asia. While the Executive Director of the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP), Jane Mariara, pinpoints shrinking development assistance, but stressed opportunities in climate finance flows to Africa, surging to $137 billion in 2024. She also called for stronger debt management capacity and a wider use of blended finance and risk-sharing instruments.
Across the dialogue, experts agreed that transformation in Africa’s transition states will depend on strong governance, coherent development strategies, sustainable financing, and robust partnerships.
