Brazzaville is ready …
With 6 days to go before the general meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB), preparations are well underway. During a recent council of ministers, the Minister of Economy, Planning, Statistics and Prospective, Ludovic Ngatsé, reassured on the progress of the work. The meetings will bring together the 61st Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank as well as the 52nd Annual Meeting of the African Development Fund around the theme: “Changing Africa’s development financing on a large scale in a fragmented world.” These Assemblies will be the first led by Sidi Ould Tah since his arrival at the head of the AfDB. The new president intends to advance the New African Financial Architecture in order to reduce the continent’s dependence on traditional external financing.
Blue Fund for the Congo Basin: Brazzaville to host the first donors’ roundtable on May 26
Brazzaville will host on May 26, 2026 the first donors’ roundtable dedicated to financing the Blue Fund for the Congo Basin. Organized on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the meeting will bring together several African heads of state, technical and financial partners as well as investors around the financing mechanisms for climate and sustainable development projects in the Congo Basin. The opening ceremony will notably feature speeches by Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of Congo and President of the Congo Basin Climate Commission, Sidi Ould Tah, President of the AfDB, Dieudonné Evou Mekou, President of BDEAC, as well as several African leaders including William Ruto, Évariste Ndayishimiye, Yoweri Museveni and Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, President of the African Union Commission. The discussions will focus on the presentation of the governance bodies of the Blue Fund, the donors already mobilized, and the 63 priority projects identified by the States and sub-regional organizations. A donors’ roundtable and the announcement of investors are also planned before the adoption of a final declaration.
3000 participants expected
The opening ceremony of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank will officially kick off the work on May 26 in Brazzaville, in the presence of heads of state, finance ministers, central bank governors, and investors. More than 3,000 participants are expected at the International Conference Center of Kintélé.
Launch of the “Economic Perspectives in Africa” report
The official launch of the Economic Perspectives in Africa 2026 is scheduled for Tuesday, May 26, 2026, from 11:15 am to 1:15 pm, at the International Conference Center of Kintélé in Brazzaville, as part of the first major plenary session of the AfDB Annual Meetings. The launch of the Economic Perspectives in Africa 2026 will be one of the most anticipated moments of this edition. The report will focus on mobilizing African financing in a fragmented global context and the continent’s massive capital needs to support its structural transformation.
The meeting of the finance ministers
The “Governors Dialogue” is scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, 2026 in Brazzaville, as part of the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank. This session will bring together finance ministers, central bank governors, and financial institution leaders to discuss debt, African savings, and reform of the international financial architecture.
Around the “Knowledge Events”
The “Knowledge Events” and thematic panels will mainly take place from Tuesday, May 26 to Thursday, May 28, 2026, alongside the official sessions of the AfDB Annual Meetings in Brazzaville. Several specialized sequences are scheduled throughout the days focusing on African capital markets, climate finance, infrastructure, SMEs, and the industrialization of the continent.
B2B meetings
Investor forums, B2B meetings, and networking sessions will mainly take place from Wednesday, May 27 to Thursday, May 28, 2026, on the sidelines of the official work of the AfDB Annual Meetings in Brazzaville. These parallel sequences will bring together banks, investment funds, companies, and multilateral institutions around financing opportunities and partnerships.
NB: Follow the Financial Afrik team throughout these annual AfDB meetings. With live broadcasts, interviews, and reports, Financial Afrik, the journal of major events, dissects the issues and behind-the-scenes of the largest African meeting in finance and economics.
