A Nigerian woman approaches President William Ruto in the streets of New York City and praises his administration for its work in Kenya. / ScreengrabA Nigerian woman on Monday approached President William Ruto in the streets of New York City and praised his administration for its work in Kenya.
The woman, who said she was Nigerian, told Ruto that Africans were following his administration and appreciated his work.
“Your Excellency, we just want to catch you up on video just to thank you for the work you do in Kenya. Thank you for the work. We Africans are watching and seeing your administration working,” she said.
“I am Nigerian. We are following your administration. We just say thank you for the work you do. God bless. God bless you all,” she added.
Ruto, who was smiling, thanked the woman for her remarks.
“Thank you. Thank you very much,” he said.
The President continued with his journey; he was accompanied by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, among other leaders.
On Monday, Ruto took a stroll through New York City as he headed to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Ruto is in New York for the high-level UNGA sessions, where he is also engaging global leaders and investors on Africa’s development and financing needs.
Speaking at the Africa We Build High-Level Roundtable on Regulation, Risk and Reward, Ruto said Africa has sufficient capital to finance its development but needs reforms to ensure the money is directed towards productive investments.
He said restrictive financial rules remain a major barrier between Africa’s savings and the infrastructure projects the continent needs.
“Africa is not short of capital. Our domestic capital pools have surpassed $4 trillion. What stands between these savings and the infrastructure we need are the rules that determine where capital can go,” Ruto said.
Ruto called for changes to Africa’s financial architecture to ensure the continent’s risk is assessed using its own experience.
“We must reshape the financial architecture to price African risk against African experience, make insurance affordable and create investable instruments that channel our savings into power, transport and industry,” he said.
Ruto said Africa’s challenge is not a shortage of capital but restrictive rules that prevent available funds from being invested in productive projects across the continent.
He said Africa has more than $2 trillion in domestic non-bank capital pools, including over $1 trillion held in pension and insurance assets.
Speaking at the Africa We Build High-Level Roundtable on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly, Ruto said the continent must reform its financial and regulatory systems to unlock the capital.
Ruto questioned why African pension funds continue to invest heavily outside the continent while critical infrastructure projects at home struggle to attract long-term financing.
“Africa’s problem is no longer the amount of capital available to it. Africa’s problem is the set of rules that decide where that capital is allowed to go. Why do African pension funds prefer US Treasuries over African power plants?” he asked.
He also questioned the cost of insurance for productive assets on the continent, saying high insurance costs can make viable projects difficult to finance.
Ruto said African countries also face risk premiums that may not accurately reflect their actual default and recovery records.
The President called for African risk to be priced using African data, arguing that better risk assessment could reduce the cost of capital on the continent.
