Keypoints:
- Domestic savings are too low to support jobs and investment
- Ecobank’s Jeremy Awori calls for deeper local capital pools
- Governments, banks and DFIs must work together to mobilise savings
AFRICAN economies risk falling short of their employment needs unless they significantly increase domestic savings, Ecobank Group Chief Executive Jeremy Awori has warned. In remarks first reported by Bloomberg, Awori argued that stronger internal capital formation is essential to financing the infrastructure, industry and services needed to absorb the continent’s growing workforce.
Savings gap blocks investment
Awori said the region’s limited savings pool is now a structural constraint. Banks remain heavily dependent on small deposit bases, curbing their ability to lend at scale to businesses and developers. This, he noted, directly affects the pace of job creation, as investment in productive sectors cannot grow without long-term local funding.
He suggested that the continent’s development ambitions cannot rely indefinitely on foreign inflows, which tend to fluctuate with global interest rates, geopolitical risk and investor sentiment. Domestic savings, he said, offer a more stable foundation for inclusive and sustainable growth.
‘When the savings rate is low, the lending capacity is low,’ Awori observed, stressing that the region must build a deeper reservoir of local capital if it hopes to accelerate investment and employment.
Jobs tied to stronger capital pools
The Ecobank chief pointed out that millions of young people join the labour market each year, intensifying pressure on governments to support private-sector expansion. But he warned that even with strong growth forecasts, job creation will lag unless economies develop a stronger culture of saving — both at household and corporate level.
He added that relying on short-term credit growth to compensate for weak savings can create instability. ‘If banks lend faster than deposits grow, the system becomes fragile,’ he said. Increasing the savings base, he argued, is the only durable route to expanding credit without introducing systemic risk.
Banks, governments and DFIs share responsibility
Awori said banks must broaden financial inclusion efforts to attract new savers, including first-time account holders and informal-sector workers. He called for digital channels, micro-savings products and simplified onboarding processes to make saving easier for low-income households.
But he also said governments and development finance institutions have a role to play. Stable macroeconomic policies, predictable regulatory environments and improved financial literacy can all encourage citizens to keep more money in formal institutions rather than cash, real estate or offshore holdings.
Development partners, he added, can help design blended-finance tools that safely convert domestic savings into long-term investment. ‘Mobilising savings is not a task for banks alone,’ Awori said. ‘It requires alignment across the entire financial ecosystem.’
Growth narrative needs deeper roots
Economists have long argued that the continent’s impressive growth projections mask persistent vulnerabilities — and Awori’s intervention underscores the point. Without stronger internal savings mobilisation, infrastructure deficits, high borrowing costs and slow job creation could continue, regardless of headline growth figures.
The warning from Ecobank’s leadership is clear: boosting domestic savings is not simply a financial goal, but a developmental one. A deeper savings pool would help banks lend more confidently, reduce reliance on volatile foreign capital and provide the long-term funding required to build the industries that will employ the next generation.
