This panel focuses on the capacity of African financial markets to channel more capital towards long-term investment. It highlights market instruments, financial depth, institutional investors and mechanisms for turning African markets into a genuine driver of financing.

Digitalization has emerged as a structuring lever for productivity, competitiveness, and institutional performance in Africa, profoundly transforming both business models and public action. The rise of digital platforms, data‑driven services, and digital public infrastructure is reshaping market access, value‑chain efficiency, and the quality of services delivered to citizens. The challenge is no longer technology adoption, but the ability to generate measurable gains at scale. This discussion highlights the levers of connectivity, skills, data governance, and interoperability that make it possible to move from fragmented uses to systemic transformation, strengthen market attractiveness, and turn digitalization into a sustainable driver of growth, inclusion, and public‑sector effectiveness.

In partnership with: - Finance in Common System (FiCS) - International Development Finance Club (IDFC) - Pact for Prosperity, People and the Planet (4P) - Agence française de développement (AFD) Africa faces a significant financing gap, driven by both a high cost of capital and a shortage of sufficiently structured, bankable projects. This dual challenge reflects misalignments between regulatory frameworks, financial instruments and development priorities, limiting the mobilisation of private capital at scale. This closed-door session will bring together public development banks, central banks, credit rating agencies, institutional investors, private sector representatives and ministries of finance. Discussions will focus on aligning regulatory frameworks, the role of credit ratings, risk-sharing instruments, and the development of national investment platforms capable of structuring bankable projects. The objective is to identify practical levers to reduce the cost of capital and unlock greater private investment, while strengthening coordination between public and financial actors and supporting a shift towards sustainable, investment-led partnerships.

This panel will focus on the infrastructure essential to the continent’s digital transformation: connectivity, backbone networks, towers, data centres and the cloud. It will demonstrate that digital sovereignty also depends on the robustness of networks and hosting capabilities. The discussion will range from current bottlenecks to investment priorities.

"Trade agreements, industrial strategies, bilateral commitments: the shared ambition between Africa and Europe has never been stronger. Turning this ambition into installed productive capacity, skilled jobs, and value chains rooted in the continent depends on a set of concrete conditions that make all the difference—financing, energy, land access, skills, and the regulatory framework. Drawing on documented industrial success stories, this session highlights the levers that have enabled projects to succeed and the best practices that can be replicated across the continent. A results‑oriented conversation to fuel a dynamic of Africa–Europe co‑construction focused on action. "

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being deployed in Africa as a lever for productivity in key sectors such as banking, telecommunications, agriculture, logistics, and public services. The challenge is no longer experimentation, but the ability to turn AI into measurable gains at the scale of organizations. Integration into core processes, data quality, upskilling of teams, and performance management are critical to moving from announcements to real economic impact. This discussion focuses on the approaches that make it possible to embed AI into operations and generate sustainable productivity gains aligned with the priorities of African markets.

This panel explores how gender-sensitive financing approaches can act as a catalyst for growth. It will address both the barriers faced by women entrepreneurs and the economic opportunities created by greater financial inclusion. The discussion will start with real-world examples and move on to systemic priorities.

Agro‑industry is a central pillar of African economies, spanning production, processing, and distribution, and accounting for more than 60% of jobs across the continent. Driven by demographic growth, urbanization, and changing consumption patterns, it primarily serves rapidly expanding domestic and regional markets. The ability of agro‑industrial players to move from the start‑up stage to scale‑up has become a decisive lever for job creation, value‑chain resilience, and structural transformation. Long‑term financing, industrial capacity, market access, and logistics integration are among the key factors that enable these champions to scale and to anchor value added sustainably on the continent.

In partnership with: - Bpifrance - Groupe Agence française de développement (AFD) Entrepreneurship is a central driver of economic transformation in Africa. However, many public support mechanisms for start-ups and SMEs remain fragmented, diluting resources and limiting the impact of existing initiatives. Strengthening entrepreneurship requires improved access to finance for start-ups, microenterprises, and SMEs. This Closed-door session will explore how to better align existing tools to create an effective continuum of support and financing across all stages of business development. It will examine the conditions for effective public–private collaboration, appropriate financing instruments (grants, loans, guarantees, equity), ecosystem gaps, and impact metrics to ensure that investment translates into sustainable growth and meaningful inclusion of local entrepreneurs, enabling the emergence of African champions. Discussions will also focus on the catalytic role of the private sector, the mobilisation of financing across growth stages, and the public policies needed to support regional and global scale-ups. The session will bring together entrepreneurs, investors, public institutions, and international partners to explore how to move from fragmented public programmes to integrated platforms capable of supporting business growth and mobilising talent from across the continent and its diaspora.

From African companies establishing in France to French firms scaling across Africa, this session highlights concrete cross-investment success stories and explores how talent mobility programmes are becoming key enablers of international growth strategies.

This panel will highlight the key role of digital technologies and scalable systems in the industrialization of African healthcare systems. It will demonstrate how technological innovation can help structure the healthcare value chain, improve productivity, and strengthen the resilience of ecosystems. Discussions will address the modernization of the pharmaceutical industry, from production to distribution, through digitalization and traceability. They will also explore the digital transformation of hospitals, in collaboration with field players such as Ellipse Projects, which is actively involved in the design and implementation of hospital projects integrating digital solutions.

Africa’s energy transition calls for a balanced mix that combines security of supply, competitiveness, and long‑term decarbonization. A growing number of African states are integrating civil nuclear power into their energy strategies, alongside renewable energy and hydropower, opening up new prospects for international cooperation. This session explores the practical, political, financial, industrial, and human conditions required to deliver a civil nuclear program over several decades. African public decision‑makers, international industrial players, and pan‑African financiers bring together their perspectives on possible pathways and cooperation models that work. A long‑term topic, addressed head‑on by those who are driving it forward.

African trade integration has entered a new phase, driven by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), continent‑wide investment, and the rise of pan‑African operators. Turning this momentum into physical flows—maritime, air, and land—and into value created locally depends on a set of concrete levers that make the difference: energy interconnection, logistics corridors, the opening of skies, and patient financing for infrastructure. In this context, this session highlights the conditions that enable connectivity projects to succeed and the best practices that can be replicated at the continental scale.

In partnership with: - World Bank Group - Agence française de développement (AFD) Access to reliable, affordable and sustainable energy remains one of Africa’s most pressing development challenges. Nearly 600 million people still lack access to electricity, constraining economic transformation and quality of life. The Mission 300 initiative, led by the World Bank Group and the African Development Bank, aims to connect 300 million people to electricity by 2030, mobilising governments, international partners and the private sector around a shared objective. This session will bring together public decision-makers, international financial institutions, utilities and private sector actors to explore how to accelerate implementation. The objective is to identify scalable solutions, strengthen coordination and highlight early concrete achievements, including those supported by France.

Public‑Private Partnerships (PPPs) are essential for closing Africa’s infrastructure and service gaps, yet many projects fail to deliver beyond the signing phase. With an annual infrastructure financing gap estimated at USD 68–108 billion, building effective PPPs is a strategic priority to mobilize private capital. Success depends on bankable structures that can withstand operational, financial, and institutional constraints. Resilient PPPs rely on predictable revenue models, balanced risk allocation, transparent procurement, credible public counterparts, and adaptable contracts. This panel explores how governments and investors can move from ambition to execution by designing PPPs that are commercially viable, operationally robust, and capable of delivering long‑term value.

This panel will explore how to develop the talent needed to drive the growth of Africa’s tech ecosystem. It will highlight the needs of businesses, training challenges and the impact of AI on skills. The discussion will begin by addressing the sector’s immediate needs before moving on to long-term priorities.

This panel will discuss the conditions necessary for the development of a competitive African pharmaceutical industry. It will address issues relating to regulation, the market, local production and industrial partnerships. The discussion will bring together manufacturers, distributors and the continental regulator.

This panel discussion focuses on the role of heavy industry in the local processing of resources and value creation across the continent. It will highlight the conditions necessary for the success of major industrial projects and their impact on local value chains. The discussion will combine industrial perspectives with an investor’s viewpoint

Africa’s digital transformation rests on two interdependent pillars: robust digital infrastructure and the rapid development of skilled talent to drive innovation and technology entrepreneurship. This session will convene public sector leaders, technology operators, investors and educational institutions to examine the partnerships required to strengthen connectivity and accelerate digital skills development. Discussions will focus on critical infrastructure – broadband, data centres, cloud – as well as initiatives to train the next generation of developers, engineers and tech entrepreneurs. The objective is to identify the key levers to position Africa as a major player in the global digital economy.

As Africa’s digital economy accelerates, cybersecurity has become a key determinant of economic stability and investment attractiveness. The growing number of cyber incidents exposes financial systems, public services, and critical infrastructure, increases operational risks, and raises the cost of capital. This panel focuses on how governments and businesses can integrate cybersecurity as a prerequisite for the development of digital markets, regional integration, and long‑term investment. It addresses the regulatory frameworks, investments, and public–private partnerships required to strengthen cyber resilience and secure sustainable digital growth.

Africa occupies a central position in global markets for critical minerals, playing a decisive role in the value chains of batteries, electric vehicles, and energy‑transition technologies. The challenge is no longer access to the resource, but the ability to convert this strategic endowment into sustainable industrial value. Moving from a rent‑based extractive economy to industrial sovereignty built on processing and manufacturing opens up major opportunities in terms of jobs, revenues, and resilience. Reliable infrastructure, industrial skills, appropriate financing, and predictable regulatory frameworks are among the key levers for building integrated value chains and positioning Africa as a strategic industrial partner in the global energy transition.

This panel will examine how to ensure a secure energy supply capable of supporting industrialisation whilst accelerating the energy transition. It will address major projects, renewable energy and technological solutions. The discussion will cover topics ranging from security of supply to the transformation of the energy mix.

Every film that reaches a festival, every series that finds an audience, rests on a foundation most people never see — producers trained to defend a project, mentors who passed on what they knew, archives that kept the work alive long enough for the next generation to learn from it. This panel brings together filmmakers, producers and institutional partners to examine what it takes to build that foundation on the African continent: where the training pipelines stand today, what heritage access means for a young filmmaker's creative education, and how new financing mechanisms can compound what decades of combined effort have already started.

The spotlight on Réunion and Mayotte at the Africa Forward Summit serves as a strategic lever at the intersection of political dialogue and economic development. As French and European territories in the Indian Ocean, they occupy a unique position, being both rooted in their African regional environment and fully integrated into the French and European frameworks. Their role as natural bridges between France, Europe and Africa makes them ideal platforms for strengthening cooperation, supporting economic exchanges and fostering the emergence of partnership projects. Highlighting Réunion and Mayotte at the Summit will serve to recognise their ability to combine geographical proximity, institutional stability and economic dynamism in the service of a more operational, balanced and forward-looking Africa–France relationship.

The reconfiguration of global supply chains presents a strategic opportunity to strengthen co-production between Africa and France. This session will bring together industrial players, distributors and public decision-makers to identify the conditions required to develop stronger Franco-African value chains and increase African production for the French market. Discussions will focus on the role of offtakers, market access, industrial standards, logistics and trade finance instruments needed to support sustainable value chains.

This panel explores how to prepare Africa’s youth for the skills and jobs being reshaped by artificial intelligence. It will highlight the role of education, training and innovation in making AI a driver of employability and prosperity rather than a source of exclusion

Food sovereignty is a major strategic issue for Africa, at the heart of its economic resilience, social stability, and growth trajectory. The continent has significant strengths—agricultural resources, expanding markets, and dynamic entrepreneurship—but the structuring of value chains remains the key factor in sustainably reducing food imports. The challenge is no longer about potential, but about the ability to mobilize the right kinds of financing to accelerate productivity, processing, and market access. Structured financial mechanisms, combining blended finance, risk-sharing, and value chain partnerships, now make it possible to scale up. This discussion will focus on the financial architectures capable of channeling capital at scale to producers and processors, strengthening the competitiveness of value chains, and sustainably anchoring food sovereignty across the continent.

This panel explores how agricultural and climate data can improve the productivity, resilience and sustainability of supply chains. It will demonstrate the practical value of data for producers, aggregators and investors. The discussion will begin with real-world applications before moving on to the structuring of supply chains and scaling up.

This panel will examine one of the major obstacles to the development of private equity in Africa: low liquidity. It will explore the role of the secondary market, risk mitigation mechanisms and blended finance structures in attracting more private capital. The discussion will begin with an analysis of the market situation before presenting concrete solutions.

The aerospace and aviation industries are powerful levers for industrial upgrading, technological diffusion, and strategic sovereignty, by structuring advanced value chains in connectivity, defense, climate, and digital services. In Africa, market momentum is accelerating, driven by strong growth in air transport and rising demand for space‑based services. The challenge now is to move beyond import‑based models to develop local capabilities in assembly, maintenance, manufacturing, and space services. Investment in skills and R&D, strong public–private coordination, and structured partnerships with leading global players are among the key levers to anchor these high value‑added activities and strengthen the continent’s long‑term industrial autonomy.

Africa’s urban growth is accelerating, making cities central hubs for industrial production, employment, and innovation. Turning this growth into sustainable economic performance depends on a set of concrete conditions that make the difference: access to productive land, integrated infrastructure and mobility, efficient logistics, and alignment between industrial needs and labor markets. By articulating industrial zones, logistics platforms, and transport systems within coherent urban ecosystems, cities can generate agglomeration effects, reduce costs, and create jobs at scale. In this context, this session highlights the levers that make it possible to reconcile rapid urban expansion with industrial dynamism, drawing on experiences from productive cities and practices that can be replicated across the continent.

Infrastructure – transport, energy, and connectivity – forms the foundation of trade, industrialisation, and economic integration. Ports, logistics corridors, rail, aviation, as well as access to reliable and competitive energy, are essential prerequisites for the development of African economies. This session will bring together investors, infrastructure operators, and public decision-makers to examine how to accelerate the development of strategic corridors linking industrial zones, logistics hubs, and tourist destinations, while ensuring access to appropriate energy and digital infrastructure. Discussions will highlight the partnerships and investment models needed to strengthen connectivity between Africa and Europe and to sustainably support the growth of trade, industry, and tourism.

This panel will demonstrate how certain stakeholders help to develop markets where they remain underdeveloped or shallow. It will highlight the complementary roles played by fintech companies, impact funds and microfinance institutions. The discussion will explore the links between market infrastructure, financial inclusion and the transformation of the local economy.

This panel explores how venture capital can support African start-ups from initial funding through to scaling up. It will bring together the perspectives of entrepreneurs and investors on the needs, obstacles and conditions for growth. The discussion will begin with the experiences of start-ups before broadening to the challenges of structuring the African VC ecosystem.

Five years after the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), the continent now has the world’s largest common market in terms of number of member countries, as well as the most ambitious legal framework ever built for its economic integration. Several regional value chains are beginning to take shape—cotton–textiles, fertilizers, agro‑industry, pharmaceuticals, and critical minerals—but translating this legal framework into pan‑African productive ecosystems remains the central challenge of the decade.

Tourism is among the most structurally significant sectors for growth and employment in Africa, with direct spillover effects on transport, construction, agriculture, culture, and services. The challenge is no longer the attractiveness of destinations, but the ability to organize ecosystems capable of capturing and retaining value locally. Structuring integrated models—linking accommodation, mobility, experiences, local supply chains, skills, and digital services—makes it possible to increase spending per visitor, length of stay, and local economic impacts. By moving beyond fragmented approaches toward coordinated strategies, these ecosystems strengthen competitiveness, attract long‑term capital, and support the deployment of sustainable and scalable tourism models across the continent.

In a rapidly changing ecosystem, involving global platforms, pan-African players and local dynamics, the challenge lies not only in distribution, but in the ability to create, capture and circulate value. Here, we explore in very practical terms the conditions under which robust models can emerge on the continent. Three key issues will guide the discussion: Where is value created today, and how does it circulate between the various players? What distribution models are emerging and adapting to the realities of the continent? What levers – rights structuring, talent development, funding models – enable the building of robust sectors ?

Africa's compute gap is the single biggest barrier to the continent owning its AI future. This panel introduces a landmark partnership between Amini, Foxconn, and Bull — unveiling a new model of industrial-grade, modular AI data centres that African governments and enterprises can own, operate, and build on locally — and makes the case for why sovereign AI infrastructure is the defining economic opportunity of our generation.