SAD! CHIEF OBAFEMI AWOLOWO’S GRANDSON, OLUSEGUN AWOLOWO, IS DEAD

L-R: Roosevelt Ogbonna, Managing Director/CEO Access Bank Plc; Jacqueline Simmons, Senior Executive Editor, EMEA, Bloomberg; Kenny Fihla, Group CEO of Absa Group; and Sim Tshabalala, Group CEO, Standard Chartered at the Bloomberg Africa Business Summit held in Johannesburg recently.

At the recently concluded Bloomberg Africa Business Summit, global investors, policymakers, and senior executives converged to explore one central question: How can Africa sustainably fund its own economic future in an increasingly interconnected world?

Among the voices shaping that conversation was Roosevelt Ogbonna, Managing Director/CEO of Access Bank, who delivered a compelling roadmap for what banking must become in a “Global Africa.”

Addressing a high-level audience in London, Ogbonna underscored the resilience of African markets despite global volatility. Using Nigeria’s most recent Eurobond issuance—oversubscribed multiple times—as evidence, he stressed that investor confidence continues to respond to countries and institutions demonstrating reform-driven, transparent, and disciplined governance.

“Markets are more intelligent than the narratives that often surround Africa,” Ogbonna said, noting that consistent policy reforms and improved transparency are strengthening Africa’s credibility within global capital markets. These shifts, he explained, are building the financial backbone required to power the continent’s next growth phase.

Speaking on a panel alongside two of Africa’s most influential banking leaders—Sim Tshabalala, CEO of Standard Bank Group, and Kenny Fihla, Group CEO of Absa Group—Ogbonna presented a bold reimagination of Africa’s economic identity.

Rather than being positioned as a continent defined by consumption and raw material exports, Ogbonna argued that Africa is primed to become a global hub for production, trade, and innovation. With its rich natural resources, expanding technology infrastructure, and a young, dynamic talent pool, Africa has the ingredients to move up the global value chain.

For Access Bank, he explained, this vision translates into a commitment to full-spectrum banking—supporting economic activity from retail and SMEs to large corporates and high-impact sectors such as renewable energy, industrial processing, and digital infrastructure.

Ogbonna highlighted a major shift in Africa’s financial landscape: as many Western financial institutions scale back their presence on the continent, African banks are expanding their dominance.

Access Bank’s own aggressive pan-African expansion, he noted, is driven not just by opportunity but by responsibility.

“The objective goes beyond profitability,” he said. “It is about catalysing growth, strengthening ecosystems, and driving development across regions and sectors.”

He emphasised that African banks possess unique advantages: deep contextual understanding of local markets, cultural fluency, and the agility to design solutions international institutions often fail to provide.

A major obstacle to Africa’s economic rise, Ogbonna observed, is the persistent “perception premium”—the exaggerated risk profile that inflates the cost of capital for African nations and businesses.

To unlock Africa’s full potential, he said, leaders must work to reshape the continent’s global reputation, reduce risk biases, and engineer pathways that boost domestic capital mobilisation.

Ogbonna expressed optimism that Africa possesses the resources, human capital, and entrepreneurial creativity to shape its own destiny. What remains essential, he argued, is visionary leadership committed to aligning these assets with a continental ambition that is both global in outlook and rooted in African ownership.

The Bloomberg Africa Business Summit ultimately reinforced a critical message: Africa’s financial future will not be defined externally. It will be crafted by Africans—leaders, institutions, innovators—who are determined to drive development, influence global markets, and redefine what a “Global Africa” truly means.