Africa has stepped into 2025 with big ambitions, and equally big battles to fight. Debt is tightening its grip on many countries, concessional finance is running thin, and global decisions that will shape the continent’s future are looming.
The African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) is positioning itself at the heart of this fight, determined to ensure Africa’s voice is not just heard but acted upon. One of the year’s biggest stages will be the South African G20 Presidency, a rare chance for the continent to set the agenda rather than react to it.
ACET will be working closely with African ministers of finance to push for reforms that matter most on the ground: getting Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) redirected where they are needed most, and fixing the Common Framework for debt, which many African leaders say has left countries waiting too long for relief while development stalls.
Another crucial moment is the 17th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF-17). For countries struggling to balance school budgets with rising debt repayments or to fund climate adaptation while borrowing costs soar, concessional finance is not just numbers on a balance sheet, it’s the difference between progress and stagnation.
ACET will support governments in pressing for a replenishment package that unlocks resources for Africa’s transformation priorities, from job creation to climate resilience. Behind the policy debates, ACET is also bringing hard evidence to the table. Its recent research on the “human costs” of the current financial system showed how high capital costs and scarce concessional funds directly translate into fewer children in school, underfunded health systems, and lagging sanitation services.
In 2025, ACET plans to use this data to drive home a simple but powerful point: reforming global finance is not abstract, it’s about real lives across Africa. The think tank will also explore longer-term power shifts, such as reforms to IMF quotas and World Bank voting shares, to ensure Africa’s growing population and economic weight are matched with real influence in global decisions.
At the same time, ACET will continue strengthening African governments’ hand with credit rating agencies, arguing that transformation potential should count just as much as short-term fiscal risks. For ACET, 2025 is not just another year on the calendar, it is a chance to rally Africa’s leaders behind a unified agenda at a time when the stakes could not be higher. With the G20 presidency, ADF-17 replenishment, and global reform debates all colliding in the months ahead, the message is clear: Africa will not wait for change, it will demand it.
