World
Why Egypt, Ethiopia’s Inclusion in BRICS is Strategic—Arnold Boateng
Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
South Africa hosted the 15th BRICS summit from August 22 to 24. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) members have thoroughly discussed a wide range of significant issues, including the bloc’s expansion, common currency, investment and trade, the bloc’s strategy and geo-policy. We already know that BRICS members consistently champion the rights and interests of Africa and also play an increasing role and influence in the global governance system – particularly international financial and economic organisations.
Holding the 15th summit, especially this crucial time, within the context of the emerging multipolar world, BRICS discussed steps forward for deepening interaction in the sphere of trade and investment with the nations of the Global South, including Africa. In fact, the BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue in Johannesburg on August 24 was considered an important component event of the summit.
On the sidelines of the BRICS summit, Kestér Kenn Klomegâh had the chance to talk with Professor Arnold Boateng about a number of questions connecting BRICS and Africa. Professor Arnold Boateng is an Entrepreneur, Consultant, Speaker and Author. [Books: Dreams of Our Youth: The African Youth Question: Ananse Verses: Foundations for Life… (Available from Amazon & Kindle Store]. Here are the interview excerpts:
In your view, how do you assess the 15th BRICS summit held here in Johannesburg, South Africa
The summit was a huge success. It is living up to the hype and expectations prior to the summit. Invited guests showed up and gave a thumbs-up to the agenda. Two critical expectations were the admission of new members and the issue of BRICS currency for trading. The organisation of the summit went according to script. A notable hitch was the absence of President Vladimir Putin, but his Foreign Affairs Minister, Sergey Lavrov, is a qualified representative.
And also, how would you evaluate, within the context of an emerging new world, Egypt and Ethiopia as new BRICS members
Egypt is the largest economy in North Africa, with a GDP of $435 billion and a population of 112 million. Its economic growth is around 3.7% for this year. According to the IMF, it is expected to grow at 5% in 2024. Ethiopia, on the other hand, with its population of 120 million and a GDP of $305 billion, brings good matrices by any measure to the table. Both countries have a young population and a strong middle class. Their political environment is relatively stable for strong economic development.
With a bit of emphasis on BRICS supporting Africa’s development and … to undermine Western domination and influence, what could be Egypt and Ethiopia’s role in these issues across Africa
As I see it, BRICS may build these two countries into economic successes and use them as carrots to rope in other African nations. As you indicated, the era of photos and handshakes to get Africa dancing is over. Even the era of infrastructure funding is ending to give way to industrial base and manufacturing funding.
BRICS sees it clearly as the most secure way to go. Egypt appeals to the North African Islamic states, whilst Ethiopia appeals to the Horn of Africa and part of the East. With both nations developing economically, their economic successes would create synergies that overflow into surrounding economies. They would also be the trump card BRICS would need to demonstrate to Africa and other regions that it offers a better option than the West’s exploitative programmes. So far, BRICS support of Africa’s development is largely words since we cannot equate China to BRICS. Even if we could, China’s infrastructure funds went to corrupt governments.
Next, what’s your take on Vladimir Putin’s proposal that BRICS becomes a trading bloc? What are the obvious implications, particularly for Africa
Vladimir Putin’s call is the best and most practical statement to come from BRICS so far. He seems to have identified the pulse of Africa and our teaming youth. Africa wants more trade and less and less aid. Wealth and economic prosperity is what Africa needs. Africa needs investment in the continent and cross-border trade. Once BRICS began to function as a trading block with fair terms of trade, Africa may apply to join the block. If BRICS positions itself as a trading block with effective and open trade rules, it may very supplant WTO in a generation. Africa is tired of WTO, which favours North Atlantic Nations. BRICS has a population of about 40%, mineral resources, and technological know-how to thrive and compete. Even trade within the BRICS block would be enough for African nations to realise their respective dreams. This is what Africa has been waiting for a trading block with raw reserves, a youthful population underpinned by fair trade, open borders and honest trading partners.
How feasible that can be and what peculiar challenges it poses for Africa and for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) under the auspices of the African Union (AU)
Its applicability lies in the guidelines for joining the BRICS; the African Union adopting BRICS policy which is skewed towards trade. Africa’s trade policies are fragmented. That is what AfCFTA seeks to overcome and usher in an era of true free trade. The lukewarm attitude from countries, competing trade policies, and internal political situations pose huge challenges. Furthermore, road and logistical infrastructure are challenges even if Africa could overcome political and technical regimes of taxes, cross-border issues and intractable issues like corruption. Thus, nationalistic tendencies are key challenges to overcome. BRICS may have to impose its own trading protocols as an assistance to the African Union (AU) and AfCFTA to help them steer the task of streamlining trading rules. BRICS may also consider harmonising trade rules with AfCFTA. The African Union is now viewed with mistrust in certain capitals. African leaders see it as an attempt to a power grab. It must focus on coordination and getting African leaders to support AfCFTA to achieve its mandate.
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.
