A Message from the Founder + Convener
Africa stands at an important moment in its economic history.
Across the continent, governments are implementing ambitious reforms. Businesses are expanding into new markets. Innovation is reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace. New technologies are transforming how we produce, trade and compete. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) presents perhaps the greatest opportunity in a generation to build a truly integrated African market.
Yet despite these promising developments, one challenge remains.
While Africa’s opportunities are increasingly continental, our conversations are often fragmented. Business leaders, policymakers, investors, entrepreneurs, researchers and development partners continue to engage, but too often in separate rooms, through disconnected platforms and around competing priorities. The ideas that can transform economies are not always connected to the capital that can finance them. Sound public policies are not always informed by the practical realities of business. Promising enterprises frequently struggle to access the networks, partnerships and markets they need to grow.
Africa’s next chapter will require something more. It will require a stronger business community.
That belief has guided the Africa Business Convention from its inception. We have always seen the Convention as more than an annual gathering. We have seen it as an opportunity to bring together the people, institutions and ideas that will shape Africa’s economic future.
Today, we are pleased to begin a new chapter in that journey.
Africa Business Convention 2027 is now officially launched.
More importantly, we are launching the next phase of our ambition.Over the coming years, the Africa Business Convention will continue to evolve beyond a two-day event into a year-round platform for dialogue, collaboration and action. Our goal is to build a trusted community where business leaders, investors, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics and young leaders can engage one another, exchange ideas, forge partnerships and contribute meaningfully to Africa’s prosperity.
We believe that strong institutions are built through continuity, not occasional gatherings. They are strengthened by shared purpose, informed dialogue and enduring relationships. It is this philosophy that will guide our work in the years ahead.
The theme for Africa Business Convention 2027 is Africa Trade.
We have chosen this theme because trade sits at the heart of Africa’s economic transformation. Trade creates markets. It attracts investment. It encourages innovation. It supports industrialisation. It strengthens regional integration. It creates jobs. It expands opportunities for businesses of every size, from ambitious startups to established multinational companies.
With the implementation of AfCFTA gathering momentum, Africa has an unprecedented opportunity to trade more with itself while competing more effectively in global markets. But achieving that vision will require more than agreements. It will require better policies, modern infrastructure, efficient logistics, greater access to finance, stronger institutions and deeper collaboration between the public and private sectors.
These are precisely the conversations we intend to convene.
Africa Business Convention 2027 will bring together leaders from across the continent and beyond to examine the policies, partnerships, investments and innovations that can unlock Africa’s trade potential. Through our Policy Forums, Investment Forum, Strategic Pillar Forums, Innovation Showcase, Africa Business Marketplace and executive dialogues, we hope to create a platform where ideas lead to action and conversations lead to lasting partnerships.
Our aspiration is simple but ambitious.
We want the Africa Business Convention to become one of the continent’s most respected platforms for business dialogue and collaboration – a place where evidence informs policy, where investment meets opportunity, where entrepreneurs find partners, where governments engage constructively with the private sector, and where Africa’s next generation of business leaders discovers the networks that will shape their future.
This ambition cannot be realised by one organisation acting alone.
It will require the active participation of governments, businesses, investors, development institutions, universities, business associations, innovators and young entrepreneurs from every region of our continent.
It will require people who believe, as we do, that Africa’s greatest opportunities will be realised not in isolation but through partnership. As we open registration for the Africa Business Convention 2027 waiting list, we invite you to
become part of that journey from the very beginning.
Over the months ahead, we will share more about the programme, our distinguished speakers, the Policy Forums, the Investment Forum, the Innovation Showcase and the many opportunities for engagement before we gather in 2027. We hope you will follow that journey with us and help shape the conversations that matter most for Africa’s future.
The Africa Business Convention has always been about bringing people together.
Now, we take the next step.
We invite you to join us as we build Africa’s business community — one conversation, one partnership and one opportunity at a time.
We look forward to welcoming you to the Africa Business Convention 2027.
Together, let us build an Africa that trades more, invests more, innovates more and prospers together.
Dr. Ogho Okiti
Founder + Convener
Africa Business Convention
