Kigali, May 18, 2025 – The 13th edition of the Africa CEO Forum, organized by Jeune Afrique Media Group and co-organized with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, concluded this Friday in Kigali, Rwanda, after two days of high-level exchanges bringing together over 2,800 public and private leaders from more than 77 countries. The challenge is clear: to enable the continent to move from a collection of still too dispersed markets to a truly integrated economic power, capable of developing world-class companies, mobilizing its own capital, and having a greater impact on new international value chains.
Under the theme “Scale or fail: why African capitalism must unite its forces“, this edition placed the imperative of critical mass and the concept of shared ownership at the heart of the debates as an essential condition for the continent’s economic competitiveness. In a world marked by trade fragmentation, the reshuffling of capital flows, the emergence of new economic blocs, and the questioning of multilateralism, participants reaffirmed a central conviction: Africa must overcome the dispersion of its markets, capital, and regulatory frameworks to build continental champions capable of influencing global value chains.
This 2026 edition once again confirmed the central role of the Africa CEO Forum, which now serves as a platform for accelerating and mobilizing high-impact investments. During the Forum, nearly $2 billion in agreements, partnerships, and memoranda of understanding were signed by several major players, including the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Equity Bank, VISA, Spiro, Elsewidy, UNICEF, APIEX (Benin), BNETD, Access Bank, BOAD, Shelter Africa Development Bank, Baobab, NMB Bank, and Zaria Group.
IFC played a leading role in the announcements made in Kigali, committing to over a billion dollars in investments through operations and partnerships with Equity Bank, Access Bank, Shelter Africa Development Bank, Baobab, NMB Bank, BOAD, and Zaria Group; these commitments cover a wide range of sectors, including infrastructure, energy, finance, agriculture, industry, and digital, aiming to accelerate productive investments, facilitate cross-border projects, strengthen market integration, and mobilize African capital for continental growth.
“This Forum confirms that Africa’s time has come. Confidence in the continent’s ability to lead, innovate, and produce results is rapidly growing. The talent is there. The capital exists. The ambition is undeniable,” said Makhtar Diop, Managing Director of IFC, co-host of the Africa CEO Forum. “What will define this decade is our ability to execute on a large scale: transforming energy into industries, industries into jobs, and investments into tangible improvements in people’s lives. From infrastructure to agribusiness, health, housing, sports, and creative industries, the path forward is clear: develop financeable projects, mobilize capital, and deliver results. At IFC, we are ready to work with our partners to structure operations, catalyze investments, and help transform Africa’s potential into sustainable continent-wide growth.”
Over two days, heads of state, ministers, business leaders, investors, financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds, banks, industrial groups, and entrepreneurs discussed ways to transform a mosaic of national markets into a truly integrated economic power. The discussions focused on three key structuring levers: Shared Equity investments, to accelerate cross-border equity stakes and mobilize more African institutional capital; Shared Infrastructure, to connect markets and integrate regional value chains; and Shared Frameworks, essential for the circulation of capital, goods, services, and talent on a continental scale.
Amir Ben Yahmed, CEO of Jeune Afrique Media Group and President of the Africa CEO Forum, stated: “The real challenge for Africa is no longer just to create national champions, but to build continental players and an economic power capable of influencing a world dominated by size and influence. This Forum has shown that by pooling our capital, infrastructure, and interests more, Africa can create the necessary scale effect to leverage its potential.”
As it concluded its work in Kigali, the Africa CEO Forum 2026 outlined a clear roadmap: to scale up, African capitalism will need to further pool its capital, infrastructure, ambitions, and rules of the game. An essential condition for fostering regional and global champions, accelerating the productive transformation of the continent, and strengthening Africa’s position in the global economy.
A highlight of this edition, the Africa CEO Forum 2026 hosted the awarding of the first edition of the Africa NextGen Economist Prize, created by Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, in partnership with the African Development Bank. Presented in Kigali, the prize was awarded to Abdoulaye Ndiaye, a 37-year-old Senegalese economist, assistant professor at the Stern School of Business at New York University, and affiliated with the Finance for Development Lab. Selected from over 70 candidates from 14 African countries, he was recognized for his research at the intersection of public finance, development economics, and political economy, particularly on domestic resource mobilization, taxation, and sovereign debt.
