President William Ruto urged COMESA leaders to match development promises with available funding.
President William Ruto urges African governments to match commitments with funding and use more African capital for development.
President William Ruto’s budget warning to African leaders has put funding at the centre of development commitments. Addressing the COMESA Summit in Harare, Zimbabwe, he urged governments to make only promises they can afford.
Ruto said governments risk losing credibility when they announce programmes without securing money to deliver them. He challenged leaders to take greater responsibility for financing their development priorities.
Ruto budget warning targets unfunded commitments
The President said regional agreements must come with resources, rather than commitments that exceed national budgets. He also urged COMESA to accelerate a sustainable financing strategy for its regional programmes.
His message focused on turning decisions made at summits into practical results for citizens. For Kenya, the issue comes amid public concerns over taxes, debt and demands for better services.
However, Ruto argued that African governments should look beyond expensive borrowing to fund their plans. He called for new financing approaches that make greater use of the continent’s existing resources.
More African capital for development
Ruto said Africa holds more than $4 trillion in domestic financial assets. These include funds held by central banks, insurance companies and capital markets.
Yet many development projects still struggle to obtain financing, he noted. He therefore called for greater investment in African financial institutions to support infrastructure, trade and industrial development.
As an example, Ruto cited Kenya’s increased shareholding in Afreximbank, the Africa Finance Corporation and other regional institutions. He presented these investments as part of efforts to strengthen Africa’s capacity to finance development.
The President also said African financial institutions would provide almost all financing for a planned $16 billion East African refinery in Kenya. However, his address gave no further details on its ownership, construction schedule or financing structure.
Call to process raw materials locally
Ruto criticised Africa’s longstanding pattern of exporting raw materials while importing finished goods. He also questioned the reliance on costly borrowing to cover the resulting financing gap.
Instead, he urged foreign partners to invest in African industries and support local processing of raw materials. He said the continent sought equal partnerships based on shared benefits, rather than dependency.
Stronger regional trade could also help African countries create jobs and build more resilient economies, Ruto argued. He encouraged countries to produce and buy more goods within Africa.
COMESA trade grows as Ruto hands over leadership
Ruto delivered the address as he handed over the chairmanship of the COMESA Authority. The regional bloc brings together 21 member states seeking closer trade and economic cooperation.
He said trade among COMESA members grew by 10.5 per cent to $14.7 billion. Meanwhile, exports to the rest of the world rose by six per cent to $212 billion.
Alongside those gains, Ruto pressed the bloc to secure adequate funding for its programmes. He said leaders must ensure that regional commitments translate into results for the people they serve.
