Alilali Nelufule, Head of Public Debt Management at CABRI attended the African Development Bank (AfDB) Policy Dialogue on innovative strategies for unlocking Africa’s domestic debt markets. Held on 8 April, the dialogue aspires to reshape Africa’s financial landscape and unlock new funding avenues for sustainable development.

Under the theme "Unlocking Africa's Potential: Driving Innovation and Harnessing Domestic Debt Markets for Sustainable Development", panelists discussed legal and institutional reforms for the domestic debt market. They further delved into innovations and new financial products in unlocking the potential of the domestic debt market.

Transparency is key in building investor confidence and promoting good governance from the sovereigns. Nelufule highlighted that robust and efficient domestic capital markets require a good and regulated secondary market i.e. stock exchange, to assist with price discovery, market liquidity and to create a price benchmark for other entities who want to tap into similar markets. The ongoing and required disclosures by these exchanges also serve as a protection for them to make an informed decisions on listed debt.

Speaking alongside Patience Oniha, Director-General in the Debt Management Office, Nigeria, Nelufule reiterated liability management as a tool that countries with higher debt burden can utilise to minimise and/or avoid the risk of default.

The Policy Dialogue was attended by policymakers, market practitioners, and financial experts to forge partnerships and share actionable solutions for economic resilience.

CABRI is committed to assist with some of the topics that were covered. For further information, please reach out to Alilali Nelufule (Alilali.Nelufule@cabri-sbo.org).