World
The New Global Financing Pact: Expected Impact on Africa’s Growth and Development
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
The Paris Summit on new global financing pact offers some hope for Africa’s development within the context of the geopolitical changes and competition on the continent because extensive investments are needed across various sectors, especially in modernizing its agricultural sector to increase production and value chain.
Increasing agricultural production will help ensure food security and supply necessary raw materials for the industry. The regular collection of raw materials also adds the required value to commodities, thus making them ready for distribution across the continent. This will effectively support establishing a single continental market and promote intra-African trade.
With the rapid changes in the world today, global players are seriously turning their focus on Africa. The central issue is to gain economic influence and further control of the continent’s politics. As already known, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) spans all the states over the following years, and it has the potential to unite more than 1.3 billion people in a $2.5 trillion economic bloc.
It has the potential to generate a range of benefits through supporting trade creation, structural transformation, productive employment and poverty reduction. The AfCFTA opens up more opportunities for both local African and foreign investors from around the world. This is the latest core element or component in post-colonial Africa. It has become the most significant landmark in the history of Africa. We are indeed talking about the official start of this intra-African trading which, of course, signals the commencement of Africa’s journey to market integration.
Those of us in the academia monitoring, researching and analyzing Africa’s development, it beholds again to closely examine the two-day Paris summit, June 22 to 23, and determine the level of its significance and interconnection with this new global financing pact that will benefit Africa. There will be winners and losers; it is both sides of the same coin. African leaders with strategic eyes and brains will become the first and most brilliant beneficiaries; others with the old mindset will only sustain their status as observers and consequently gain nothing for their countries and citizens.
At this point, the summit primarily seeks to rally political leaders and representatives of global financial institutions. The new financing system will address inequality, debt crisis, climate change, international taxes, and special drawing rights. It will be more inclusive and fairer. Therefore, at least, there are solid grounds to rethink the contract between the countries in the Global North and the Global South.
Given geopolitical contradictions and complexities, one more critical point of focus is formulating new pacts and financial modalities to address the current global economic crisis and climate change.
I can only remind you of the global financial institutions. These include the IMF and the World Bank, civil society and the private sector. It will lay the foundation for creating a new global financing system. The new financing system will address inequality, debt crisis, climate change, international taxes, and special drawing rights. It will be more inclusive and fairer.
Most of their conditions are usually unfavourable to many creditors; however, much again depends on the crediting countries’ implementable policies, approaches and economic goals. At this point, we must ponder a few questions: How does the summit fit into a global context defined by the sweeping consequences of persistent economic, climate, health and energy crises, mainly in the most vulnerable countries? What do we expect from the summit, and what next after all these?
Objectives for the Paris Summit: Catherine Colonna, the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, in a statement on January 6, 2023, noted that the Paris Summit would focus on building a new pact with a Global North and a Global South. According to her, the new arrangement would facilitate vulnerable countries’ access to the necessary finance to address the effects of the current and future crises.
On the same day, the Secretary of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships, Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, and the Permanent Representative of France to the OECD, Amélie de Montchalin, took part in a webinar arranged by the Finance for Development Lab on the issues at stake at the Paris Summit 2023.
In November 2022, on the sidelines G20 Summit and the conclusion of a COP27 Summit with mixed results, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a global conference in Paris in June 2023. Macron announced that the Paris Summit would take stock “of all means and ways of increasing financial solidarity with the Global South.”
Emmanuel Macron’s announcement happened in a particular global context. The climate change crisis particularly threatens the Global South countries, including island states. Thus, the Barbados Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, has led an initiative to finance climate action since COP26. The “Bridge Initiative” focuses on facilitating access to global financing for the countries most vulnerable to climate change. The funding allows them to respond better to climate challenges.
Macron’s announcement aligns with the Bridgetown Initiative. However, the Paris Summit will deliberate on financing issues beyond the climate question, including the fight against poverty. The Covid-19 pandemic, the Ukrainian conflict, and the accompanying consequences have massively shrunk the budgetary and fiscal space for many countries, including Africa. This has affected their ability to finance citizens’ access to basic social needs and services. Consequently, the UNDP observed a human development decline in nine out of ten countries globally in 2022. The fall has mainly come from increased poverty levels and a drop in life expectancy.
AfDB president Dr Akinwumi Adesina will moderate a roundtable discussion about the Alliance for Green Infrastructure in Africa at the Summit for New Global Financing Pact. Seven heads of state will join Akinwumi Adesina. Islamic Development Bank Chairman Muhammad Al Jasser and the European Investment Bank President, Werner Hoyer, will also attend.
The Alliance represents a program by the African Union Commission, the AfDB, and Africa50 with other partners. The platform allows African nations to partner with the private sector to raise $500 million in early-stage combined finance capital. This will catalyze up to $10 billion in green and climate-resilient programs and projects. Its eventual goal is to hasten a transition to net-zero emissions by Africa and for Africa.
The event will promote AGIA as an influential platform. AGIA could accelerate and scale funding Africa’s transformational climate-resilient and greener infrastructure projects to attract new financiers and partners. It will also provide a progress update on the Alliance’s activities since its launch at COP27. The June 22-23 Summit for a New Global Financing Pact is one to anticipate. Many of the deliberations and expected outcomes will no doubt benefit the majority of African nations.
With six round tables, 30 branded events and 50 parallel events and deliberations, there will be a final declaration and communique. Leaders have registered their participation, including the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, Prime Minister of Barbados, Olaf Scholz, Luis Inacio, the President of Brazil, Lula Da Silva, Germany Chancellor Mia Mottley, Chinese Premier Li Qiang, and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Several representatives of international organizations, activists, and philanthropists will also attend. They include AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina, Word Bank President Ajay Banga, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, UN Goodwill Ambassador and activist Vanessa Nakate, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and philanthropist Melinda French Gates, among others.
A high-level international steering committee composed of states and international organizations oversees the Paris Summit preparations. It includes France, South Africa, Senegal, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Barbados, Brazil, Japan, China, India, the United Nations Secretariat, the European Commission, the OECD, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Civil society campaigns: Ahead of the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris and the confines of multilateral development bank reforms, the Pandemic Action Network and 19 institutions from around the globe have issued a rallying call for the inclusion of pandemic debt relief clauses in new country lending agreements.
In summary, we expect the summit formulates proposals for innovative financing sources, particularly those from the multilateral development banks. This will ultimately benefit developing countries, including those in Africa. Further, the international institution’s interventions will effectively address and reduce or minimize the vulnerability of economic shocks due to global instability from the pandemic and Russia-Ukraine crisis. We equally expect some reforms in the global financial infrastructure to create a just, sustainable and equitable world.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
One year after launching a continental initiative designed to make excellence in public governance the foundation of a new drive to transform Africa, LEAD, the Africa CEO Forum’s pan-African leadership programme, takes stock of its first cohort and announces the launch of its second class. Built around a community of senior public decision-makers committed to modernising the state and to the continent’s digital transformation, this new cohort gathers for three days, from 28 to 30 August 2026, on the campus of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Rabat, Morocco.
A second cohort that confirms the programme’s durability
For its second class, LEAD brings together 50 fellows, senior public decision-makers engaged in the design and implementation of the continent’s economic and social policies. Over three days, participants take part in collective and collaborative working sessions, peer exchanges and meetings with figures from the public, business and academic spheres, in order to compare their practices and build shared responses to the major challenges of governance.
Speakers include Mehdi Jomaa, former Head of Government of Tunisia, Donald Kaberuka, Managing Partner & Founder, SouthBridge Group, and former President of the African Development Bank, Serge Ekue, President of the West African Development Bank (BOAD), Sanjay Jain, co-creator of India Stack and Director of Digital Public Infrastructure, Gates Foundation, and Mauricio Cardenas, Professor of Professional Practice in Global Leadership, Columbia SIPA, and former Finance Minister of Colombia (2012-2018).
They share their reform experience, their public policy trade-offs and their view of continental priorities. Throughout the programme, the cohort benefits from the dedicated support of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Asafo & Co, BOAD, BCG and the African Development Bank, LEAD partners that have chosen to invest in the transformation of African public action.
LEAD, a pan-African community serving public action
Created by the AFRICA CEO FORUM, LEAD is a leadership programme whose ambition is to reposition Africa’s administrative elite as a driver of reform, of performance and of dialogue with all the continent’s stakeholders.
Designed for senior African public decision-makers, LEAD sets out to build a lasting community of public officials able to share their experience, compare their practices and build common solutions to the major economic, technological and institutional transformations under way in Africa. That community is structured around three pillars: modernizing the state, improving public services, and strengthening cooperation between governments, development institutions and private-sector players.
From fellows to alumni: a long-term initiative
Made up of 36 fellows drawn from a range of administrations and institutions and representing 24 countries across the continent, LEAD’s first cohort demonstrated the quality and the potential of this community from its very first year. In less than twelve months, six of its members have taken a significant step forward: two have been appointed ministers, two have moved into strategic positions at the highest level of the state and two have been promoted to chief executive roles. These moves, which account for 16.7% of the first class, show the role LEAD plays as an accelerator of impact within African administrations.
By bringing together a new cohort of fellows every year, each of them joining the LEAD alumni community, the initiative follows a long-term trajectory: in time, to unite several hundred African public decision-makers around a shared culture of transparency, performance and regional cooperation.
A first year devoted to public service and digital public infrastructure
Throughout the year, the fellows devoted their work to strengthening African public action, to make excellence in public governance a central lever of transformation. An awareness campaign, run as part of Africa Public Service Day, brought to light those who, within the continent’s administrations and institutions, are concretely transforming public policy and improving the services offered to citizens.
Members of the cohort also took part in a special round table held in Kigali during the ACF 2026, in order to carry their thinking to a wider community of public and private leaders. That forum reinforced LEAD’s role as a platform for dialogue between the administrative elite and the continent’s economic players. Digital public infrastructure (DPI) formed the main thread of this first year of work.
Discussions covered issues at the heart of the digital sovereignty of African states: digital identity, payments, secure data exchange, interoperability, governance and the protection of citizens. This work examined the conditions under which African states are developing, in some cases, and can develop, in others, shared, open infrastructure robust enough to improve the quality of public services while supporting local innovation and preserving the capacity of public authorities to set the rules of the game.
A white paper to move from consuming technology to creating value
This year of work concludes with the publication, in collaboration with BCG, LEAD’s Knowledge Partner, of a white paper on Africa’s place in the digital economy and in artificial intelligence. With the digital economy still accounting for around 5% of African GDP, against close to 15% worldwide, the paper calls on the continent to shift from a logic of technology consumption to one of value creation.
The white paper identifies three structuring priorities for African public actors:
- Building shared digital infrastructure that serves as the backbone of public services and private innovation.
- Pooling investment in order to reach critical mass and avoid the fragmentation of efforts across the continent.
- Favouring open and interoperable architectures, with trust and governance built in by design, so as to protect citizens while stimulating the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
The white paper is available here to all public decision-makers, technical partners and institutions concerned.
“LEAD’s first cohort confirms a simple conviction: Africa already has the women and men capable of profoundly transforming public action. Our responsibility, either with our partners, is to give them, at pan-African level, a space in which to compare experience, build common solutions and bring forward a new generation of public policy. With this second cohort, we want to accelerate the move from ambition to execution, in particular on digital public infrastructure and artificial intelligence, two decisive issues for sovereignty, for the effectiveness of the state and for value creation across the continent,” says Amir Ben Yahmed, President of the Africa CEO Forum.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
Africa is set to make history as it hosts the World Public Summit for the first time, with Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, welcoming global leaders and changemakers from July 29–30, 2026, for the landmark gathering under the theme “New World: Africa in Shaping a Shared Future.”
The inaugural African edition of the World Public Summit marks a significant milestone in the continent’s growing role in shaping international dialogue on governance, sustainable development, human-centred leadership and global cooperation.
Hosted by the World Peoples Assembly in partnership with African and international organisations, the summit will convene government officials, diplomats, business leaders, academics, journalists, youth representatives, civil society organisations and cultural leaders from across Africa and around the world.
According to Andrey Belyaninov, General Secretary of the World Peoples Assembly, “the Summit is not just a meeting—it is a space for unity. A space where the ‘values that unite us’ come to life: respect for people, openness to the world, responsibility for the future, and a commitment to creation.
“Today, we understand more clearly than ever: the future cannot be built alone. It is born in dialogue, in trust, in the ability to listen to one another and to act together.”
The programme begins on July 29 with a series of high-level roundtables and expert discussions covering Pan-African economic integration, civil society, education, scientific cooperation, cultural diplomacy and humanitarian partnerships.
The opening plenary, “Values, Development and Partnership as the Basis of a Sustainable and Just World,” will explore how African values—including Ubuntu—can help shape a more inclusive and sustainable global future. Discussions will also focus on youth leadership, innovation, civil society, ethical AI, public initiatives and international partnerships.
The summit will also showcase Africa’s creativity and innovation through the “Innovations for the Future” exhibition, the contemporary African art exhibition “Unity,” and the international exhibition “The World Paints Happiness.”
Another featured initiative is “The Zambezi River: Economy, Society, Soul,” an international interdisciplinary project exploring the river’s socioeconomic importance across Angola, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, highlighting the shared heritage and development potential of one of Africa’s most important waterways.
The event will conclude with the adoption of the African Communiqué, reflecting the summit’s shared vision for stronger international cooperation, sustainable development and people-centred leadership.
Tsegaye Chama, General Secretary of the Global Black Centre, promised that, “The Summit will be delivered with exceptional distinction, reflecting the magnitude and spirit of the World Peoples Assembly. It embodies a unity that is not transactional, but purposeful and conscious, a unity that shapes new contours for a world that works for all peoples of the World.”
As delegates prepare to arrive in Addis Ababa, anticipation continues to build for what promises to be one of Africa’s most significant international gatherings of 2026—one that will place the continent firmly at the centre of global conversations about the future.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria regained its position as Africa’s leading destination for equity startup investment in the first half of 2026, raising $214 million in equity financing and a total of $254 million across equity and debt, according to the latest Africa: The Big Deal report.
The report, titled H1 2026: Mapping the Money, showed that Nigeria ranked second on the continent in total funding, behind Egypt, which attracted $327 million, while Kenya and South Africa followed with $126 million and $83 million, respectively.
However, the report noted that Egypt’s top position was largely driven by a single fundraising by electric mobility company Spiro, which secured $327 million, including $270 million in equity and $57 million in debt. Excluding debt financing, Nigeria emerged as Africa’s largest equity funding market in the first six months of the year.
According to the breakdown by Africa: The Big Deal, Nigeria’s equity funding of $214 million was higher than Egypt’s $183 million, while South Africa and Kenya attracted $66 million and $46 million, respectively.
Beyond funding value, Nigeria also led the continent in the number of startups that raised at least $100,000 during the review period, reclaiming the top spot after what the report described as an “underwhelming” second half of 2025.
The publication observed that Nigeria’s fundraising performance has remained relatively stable over the past few years and exceeded the $250 million mark for the first time since 2022, pointing to renewed investor confidence in the country’s startup ecosystem.
It also found that while the Big Four startup markets—Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa—continued to dominate Africa’s investment landscape, their combined share of total funding stood at 58 per cent in the first half of 2026.
“Zooming back on the Big Four (110 out of 190 $100k+ deals, i.e. 58%), Nigeria is head and shoulders above its peers, with Egypt and Kenya almost tying, and South Africa in fourth position again,” the report noted.
The report highlighted contrasting performances among the continent’s largest startup ecosystems. While Nigeria and Egypt maintained strong funding momentum, Kenya recorded its weakest funding performance since early 2021 after a strong second half of 2025, and South Africa failed to attract $100 million in funding during the period despite leading the continent a year earlier.
Africa: The Big Deal also noted a broader shift in investor behaviour, with funding increasingly concentrated in larger transactions while early-stage investments continued to decline. According to the publication, the drop in smaller funding rounds reflects growing concerns about limited capital available for early-stage startups across Africa.
