In the last year, central banks across the world have been forced to navigate persistent inflation, suppressed growth and heightened geopolitical tensions. However, these forces have been most apparent for reserve managers in Africa. Compounded with the lingering effects of the pandemic, reserves saw the greatest decrease in international reserve levels in 2022 and urged many countries into seeking further multilateral support. This has raised concerns around the adequacy of reserves in the region and the capacity of countries to withstand further protracted shocks.  
Nikhil Sanghani, managing director of research, and Edward Maling, research analyst, discuss how these challenges are influencing reserve managers’ long-term strategies. Delving into the regional findings from OMFIF’s Global Public Investor 2023 survey, they discuss how the uncertain outlook is affecting reserve managers’ asset allocation decisions, appetite for further diversification and will take stock of their progress towards environmental, social and governance integration.