This high-level meeting constitutes a permanent policy forum and seeks to initiate a practical dialogue for senior African debt managers and other financial policymakers involved in sovereign debt policies and operations, as well as market operators involved in primary or secondary government debt markets.

African governments still face the challenge of having inadequately developed capital markets, which are priced at relatively high risk premiums. The result of this is illiquid capital markets at relatively high interest rates. Due to the lack of the development of local capital markets, African governments have been increasingly looking to international capital markets in order to meet their funding needs.