2026 Programme

09:00 Opening Remarks

09:10 Keynote Address

09:25 Keynote Address

10:00 Debate: Redefining Partnership

The continued realignment of business, policy, economy, and geopolitics is redefining Africa's position on the world stage. With new economic power centres emerging, new partnerships growing, and the world trade map being transformed, the continent is rapidly becoming pivotal to the foreign engagement strategies of major powers and emerging markets.

The implications of this for business on the continent have been the subject of much debate, but this often focuses principally on the questions of both risk - and crucially - what the world needs or wants from the continent. Glossed over in this is the reality of Africa's growing agency in defining its trading and policy relationship with global partners, and the opportunities a world in transition presents to drive the continent's development agenda. This opening session will challenge the prevailing approach to the global realignment, asking the key question - what does Africa want from the world?

10:45‍ ‍Spotlight: Navigating a New Trade Paradigm

Global trade is being reshaped by fundamental technological change, a new geopolitical landscape, and the rise of new economic players. Africa's trade reached $1.5tr in 2024 (up 13.9%) yet represents only 3.3% of global exports. Trump tariffs in April 2025 affected 20 African countries with rates of 11-50%, while AGOA was superseded, forcing countries like Lesotho to declare disasters.

The AfCFTA offers a strategic response - 49 countries have ratified, with projections of a 45% ($276bn) increase in intra-African trade and $141bn GDP boost by 2045. PAPSS now connects 18 countries and 150+ banks, addressing the $5bn annual cost of currency inconvertibility. China-Africa trade reached a record $295.6bn in 2024 (16th consecutive year as largest partner), while the EU-South Africa mineral processing agreement ($750m, November 2025) signals new partnership models. This session will explore how Africa can leverage global shifts for development and prosperity while accelerating regional integration.

11:15 Break

11:30 Debate: Building a New Financing Pact with Africa

The global financial architecture is at a crossroads. The Bretton Woods institutions, established nearly 80 years ago, face mounting criticism for failing to adequately address the financing needs of developing economies. African countries, despite representing 20% of the world's population, account for less than 3% of global capital flows, while facing borrowing costs that are 400-600 basis points higher than developed markets.

Changing geopolitical realities are driving the emergence of new players and alternative structures. The New Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and expanding regional development banks are reshaping the development finance landscape. The Paris Pact for People and Planet, endorsed at COP28, calls for reforming the international financial architecture, while the Bridgetown Initiative advocates for expanded Special Drawing Rights and debt relief mechanisms.

For African economies, which have often found themselves subject to rules and regulations over which they have little control, this presents an opportunity - together with global partners - to shape a new financing pact that meaningfully addresses their development priorities, from climate finance to infrastructure investment to trade facilitation.

12:15 Debate: Winning the Critical Minerals Race

Africa holds 30% of the world's mineral reserves, including vast deposits of critical minerals essential to the global energy transition. The DRC possesses 70% of global cobalt reserves, Zimbabwe holds significant lithium deposits, South Africa dominates manganese production, and Guinea contains major bauxite and rare earth elements. Global demand is surging - the IEA projects copper demand to increase by 50% and lithium demand to rise eightfold by 2040.

Major investments are flowing into the sector. The United States committed $200m to support critical minerals development, while the EU's Critical Raw Materials Act prioritizes supply chain diversification. The Lobito Corridor received $553m in financing to improve mineral transport infrastructure. The African Union's Green Minerals Strategy (December 2024) and national strategies from South Africa (2025) and the DRC signal a shift toward value addition - from raw extraction to processing and manufacturing on African soil.

For the continent, which finds itself at the heart of the global critical minerals race, this represents a transformative opportunity. Realizing this potential means going beyond traditional extractive models by capturing emerging value chains through local processing, battery manufacturing, and advanced materials production - exemplified by Morocco's gigafactory development and the EU-South Africa partnership for on-continent mineral processing.

13:00 Lunch

14:00 Spotlight: The Lobito Corridor as an Example of Partnership in a New Era

The Lobito Corridor is a 1,300km railway and infrastructure project connecting the port of Lobito on Angola's Atlantic coast to the mineral-rich provinces of Katanga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia's Copperbelt region. As Africa's first open-access transcontinental rail link, it provides the shortest and most efficient route for moving critical minerals from Central Africa to global markets.

The corridor represents a distinctive approach to infrastructure development. In October 2023, the United States, European Union, Angola, DRC, Zambia, the African Development Bank, and Africa Finance Corporation signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a framework for cooperation. This partnership - bringing together African governments, development finance institutions, and private sector operators - exemplifies the G7's Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII). The Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium (Trafigura, Mota-Engil, and Vecturis) was awarded a 30-year concession, committing to invest $455m in Angola, $100m in the DRC, and $1bn in Zambia. In December 2024, a $753m financing package marked one of the largest infrastructure financings in sub-Saharan Africa.

With the potential for transformative impact in developing Africa's critical minerals and regional trade, the Lobito Corridor stands as an example of partnership in a changing world order. What key lessons can be drawn from the project, and how can this experience be leveraged to drive investment and development across the continent?

14:30 Debate: Redefining the Energy Transition

African economies are facing an energy transition paradox. The continent has vast renewable energy potential and is home to many of the critical minerals needed to power green growth globally. At the same time, some 600 million Africans still lack access to reliable power, representing a severe constraint on investment, growth, and development. Demand is projected to triple by 2040, yet sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) consumes less electricity per capita than a single US state.

The continent possesses extraordinary renewable potential - exceptional solar irradiation, coastal and highland wind resources, geothermal capacity in the Rift Valley, and vast hydropower possibilities. Solar and wind are now the cheapest forms of new electricity generation, with China-Africa photovoltaic projects exceeding 1.5GW. Yet Africa receives less than 3% of global energy investment despite representing 20% of the world's population. The required $22.4bn investment (2025-2040, 80% for renewables) faces a significant financing gap as fossil fuel financing has contracted without being replaced.

This session raises critical questions about the practicalities of Africa's energy transition - from the need for substantially increased investment and innovative financing mechanisms, to the role of natural gas as a bridge fuel, to the potential of carbon markets to mobilize climate finance while addressing concerns about greenwashing and ensuring genuine development impact.

15:15 Debate: Redefining Development Finance

The role of development finance institutions has never been more critical. Traditional development assistance budgets are under unprecedented pressure - OECD countries' Official Development Assistance fell to 0.37% of GNI in 2023, well below the 0.7% UN target. Simultaneously, many African governments face significant fiscal constraints, with debt service consuming growing portions of government revenues and limiting their capacity to invest in infrastructure, healthcare, and education.

Africa's infrastructure financing gap alone is estimated at $68-$108bn annually, while the continent requires an additional $277bn per year to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Climate adaptation needs could reach $50bn annually by 2040. Yet in 2023, Africa attracted only $29bn in foreign direct investment, down from previous years, while private capital flows remain concentrated in a handful of markets and sectors.

Development finance institutions are evolving their approaches - from catalyzing private capital through blended finance structures to supporting local currency financing, from backing regional integration projects to investing in climate adaptation and renewable energy. The question is whether these adaptations are sufficient to meet Africa's development needs in a rapidly changing global financing landscape, and how DFIs can maximize their impact in mobilizing the trillions needed for transformative development.

15:45 Break

16:00 Debate: The Next Phase of Africa’s Digital Transformation

Africa's digital transformation has been one of the most significant economic stories of the past two decades. The mobile telecoms revolution leapfrogged traditional infrastructure constraints, bringing connectivity to hundreds of millions who had never had access to fixed-line services. Today, mobile penetration across the continent exceeds 80%, with smartphone adoption accelerating rapidly as device costs decline.

This connectivity has enabled transformative innovations. M-Pesa, launched in Kenya in 2007, pioneered mobile money and demonstrated how digital services could reach populations excluded from traditional banking. Today, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for nearly half of the world's mobile money accounts, with transaction values exceeding $800bn annually. This infrastructure has become the backbone for a thriving digital ecosystem spanning payments, lending, insurance, and beyond. The digital economy is now expanding beyond fintech into e-commerce, healthtech, edtech, logistics, and enterprise software. Chinese companies have built major data centres across the continent, applying 5G technology in urban management. The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) - connecting 18 countries through over 150 commercial banks - demonstrates how digital infrastructure can enable continental integration.

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the global economy at unprecedented speed. For Africa, AI presents both immense opportunity and significant risk - the opportunity to leapfrog development constraints, and the risk of being left behind in a technology revolution that will define economic competitiveness for decades. The 2025 Afreximbank Compliance Forum in Kigali placed AI at centre stage, with Rwanda positioning itself as a continental leader in AI governance and adoption. Yet significant gaps remain in infrastructure, skills, data availability, and regulatory frameworks.

16:45 Fireside Chat: Capital Markets in a World in Transition

African capital markets are navigating profound transformation amid global financial volatility. While the continent's exchanges have demonstrated resilience - with market capitalization across major exchanges exceeding $1.5tr - they face persistent challenges in depth, liquidity, and integration with global financial flows. Foreign portfolio investment remains concentrated and volatile, while local institutional investor bases are still developing.

London has long been a key partner in meeting Africa's financing needs, serving as a primary listing venue for African companies seeking international capital and a hub for sovereign and corporate bond issuances. Major African mining companies, financial institutions, and telecommunications firms maintain London listings, while the city's financial infrastructure supports billions in African trade finance, project finance, and investment flows annually.

In a changing world, questions emerge about the future of this relationship. How is London's role evolving as African exchanges modernize and deepen? How can cross-listing arrangements and market linkages be strengthened? What role can London play in supporting the development of local currency capital markets, green and sustainable finance instruments, and the digitalization of African exchanges? As global finance fractures along geopolitical lines, how can partnerships between London and African markets continue to support investment and growth on the continent?

17:15 Fireside Chat: Redefining African Philanthropy

Philanthropic capital is playing an increasingly vital role in Africa's development landscape. As traditional development assistance faces constraints and many governments grapple with fiscal pressures, philanthropic foundations - both international and Africa-based - are filling critical gaps in sectors ranging from healthcare and education to agricultural innovation and entrepreneurship support.

Major African philanthropists have emerged as significant players, with foundations like the Tony Elumelu Foundation supporting tens of thousands of entrepreneurs across the continent, the Motsepe Foundation investing in education and community development, and numerous family foundations tackling specific development challenges. International foundations, particularly the Gates Foundation, have maintained substantial commitments to African health, agriculture, and financial inclusion despite global pressures on aid budgets.

Yet questions persist about philanthropy's optimal role and structure. How can philanthropic capital best complement government investment and commercial finance? What models prove most effective in driving sustainable development outcomes rather than creating dependencies? How can African philanthropy grow and institutionalize to provide long-term support for the continent's development priorities? Is it time to rethink how philanthropy works in Africa, and what might a new model for the continent look like?

17:45 Closing Remarks

18:00 Closing Reception

*This programme is subject to change