Thirty-three years ago, African governments were told they were not capable. They built @Afreximbank anyway: a bank owned by Africans, governed by Africans and answerable to Africans. At the Alamein Africa Forum, I called on our leaders to stand behind the institution they created. Ownership carries the responsibility to keep capitalising our institutions, honour the treaties that protect them and defend them collectively. Our shareholders have demonstrated that commitment, again and again, in cash, often when their own budgets were under pressure. Their support has enabled us to keep financing African economies when others withdrew. When Africa needs its bank, its bank must be there. That record deserves to be assessed accurately. Credit ratings should measure substance, not conformity. I thank President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the Government of Egypt for hosting us and for standing with Afreximbank since its earliest years. Egypt gave this Bank a home when it was untested and widely doubted. We must now build on what we have created: African institutions that can mobilise African savings, finance African trade and invest in African businesses and infrastructure at the scale our continent requires. When the world retreats, Africa must not. Watch my address in full: youtu.be/am73EDC1QbU