Ruto warns African leaders against making promises their budgets cannot fund

NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 22 – President William Ruto has warned African leaders against making development promises they cannot afford to deliver, saying governments must match their ambitious plans with money to implement them.

Ruto said African governments risk losing credibility when they make commitments without securing the resources needed to fulfil them, a challenge that resonates with Kenyans grappling with taxes, public debt and demands for better services.

“Every programme we agree upon must be matched by the resources to deliver it. Otherwise, our communiqués will promise what our budgets cannot pay for,” Ruto said on Thursday while addressing the COMESA Summit in Harare, Zimbabwe.

The President called for a new approach to financing development, arguing that African countries must find innovative ways to fund their priorities instead of relying heavily on expensive borrowing.

He said Africa holds more than $4 trillion in domestic financial assets, including money held by central banks, insurance companies and capital markets, yet many development projects continue to struggle to secure funding.

“Can we finance what we commit and can we deliver what we finance?” Ruto posed, challenging African leaders to take greater responsibility for funding their own development.

Ruto also called for increased investment in African financial institutions, saying the continent should make better use of its own capital to support infrastructure, trade and industrialisation.

He cited Kenya’s increased shareholding in Afreximbank, the Africa Finance Corporation and other regional financial institutions as part of efforts to strengthen African financing.

Ruto further revealed that a $16 billion East African refinery planned for Kenya would be financed almost entirely by African financial institutions, although he did not provide further details on the project’s ownership, construction timeline or financing structure in his address.

He argued that Africa must move away from a model in which it exports raw materials, imports finished products and borrows at high costs to bridge the gap.

“For too long, our engagement with the world has followed one script: we export raw materials, we import finished goods, and we borrow at a premium to make the difference,” he said.

“That script, I dare say, has run its course.”

Ruto urged foreign partners to invest in African industries and process raw materials locally, saying the continent wanted partnerships based on mutual benefit rather than dependency.

“We do not want to be treated special; we want to be treated equal,” he said.

The President made the remarks as he handed over the chairmanship of the COMESA Authority, which brings together 21 member states seeking to deepen regional trade and economic cooperation.

He said trade between COMESA member states grew by 10.5 per cent to $14.7 billion, while exports to the rest of the world increased by six per cent to $212 billion.

Ruto called for stronger regional trade, arguing that African countries could create more jobs and strengthen their economies by producing and buying more goods within the continent.

He also urged COMESA to fast-track a sustainable financing strategy to ensure that regional programmes are adequately funded.

The challenge, he said, was to turn commitments made at regional summits into tangible results for citizens.