Africa Forward Summit: Ruto pleads with investors to invest in Kenya’s Sovereign Wealth Fund

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]President William Ruto's called on investors at the Africa France Summit to inject capital into Kenya's newest economic engines. The national infrastructure and the sovereign wealth funds. But beyond the billions in trade deals, the president launched a high-stakes diplomatic offensive demanding a permanent seat for Africa at the UN Security Council and a complete overhaul of global financial systems.

[00:00:27]Entebbe's Laban Shabani with the details from the last day of the Africa Forward Summit 2026.

[00:00:36]>> [music] >> Kenya views the Africa Forward Summit as a critical catalyst to propel the country toward the development levels of the Asian tigers within the next decade.

[00:00:48]Capitalizing on the presence of over 20 heads of state and government, President Ruto seized the moment to market his road map.

[00:00:59]On the sidelines, he held high-stakes bilateral talks with prominent figures alongside the head of the International Finance Corporation and International Monetary Fund solidifying Nairobi's status as the continent's new diplomatic nerve center ahead of the G7 Summit.

[00:01:17]We will not be asking for for money from the G7. What are we asking from the G7? We are asking them to put in um call up capital. We are asking them to put in guarantee, not money.

[00:01:32]We will use our own institutions to mobilize resources to undertake our own infrastructure development. But the president's message was as much about power as it was about profit.

[00:01:44]Chaired by Kenya's head of state, a round table on peace and security had a stinging critique of the UN Security Council. It is unjust, it's unfair, it is morally wrong for 1.5 billion people to have no say on matters that affect them the most.

[00:02:05]Ruto also challenged the beggar narrative, revealing that Africa holds nearly $4 trillion in untapped pension funds and insurance assets. He reiterated the solution to financing Africa's transformation lies within its borders, stating Kenya alone has over a billion US dollars in the national infrastructure fund. We have money in Africa.

[00:02:31]We have $4 trillion of dollars of savings in our pension funds, in our insurance companies, in our reinsurance companies, and yet we are not using that money to fund our own development. Co-hosting a plenary with France's Emmanuel Macron, Ruto lobbied for a reform of the global financial systems that have long burdened African nations with unsustainable debt. We want a functioning, representative, fair international financial architecture.

[00:03:08]One that recognizes our opportunities, one that does not unfairly judge African economies. As curtains fall on this summit, it signals a season of harvest for nations ready to operationalize these trade agreements.

[00:03:27]It comes at a time when Paris is recalibrating its strategy to soften the economic blows sustained in West Africa while Nairobi firmly positions itself as the lead architect of a new African era.

[00:03:43]Let us Abban Shaban.

[00:03:46]NTV.

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