Kigali is set to host one of Africa’s most influential business and investment gatherings next week, with the Africa CEO Forum scheduled for 14–15 May 2026.
The event is expected to attract more than 2,000 senior decision-makers from across Africa and beyond, including six sitting African heads of state.
President Paul Kagame will host the forum alongside five fellow African leaders: Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Gabon’s President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, Mozambique’s President Daniel Chapo, Mauritania’s President Mohamed Cheikh Ould El Ghazouani, and Guinea’s President Mamadi Doumbouya. Their participation underscores the growing political and economic significance of this year’s gathering.
The forum comes at a moment of heightened continental engagement, opening just days after the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, held from 11–12 May.
The back-to-back convenings place Africa at the centre of global business and policy discussions during a pivotal period for the continent’s economic transformation agenda.
Jean-Guy Afrika, Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Development Board, said Rwanda’s hosting of the forum reflects the country’s ambition to position itself as a gateway for investment, logistics, services and innovation across Africa.
He noted that Kigali aims to connect global capital with African opportunities while helping translate high-level dialogue into practical investment outcomes.
Held under the theme, “The Scale Imperative: Why Africa Must Embrace Shared Ownership,” this year’s forum will focus on the need for deeper regional integration and larger cross-border economic structures.
Discussions are expected to centre on how African economies can move beyond fragmented growth by building integrated markets, stronger industrial value chains, broader capital pools and companies capable of operating competitively across the continent.
Key agenda items include large-scale infrastructure development, expanding intra-African trade and investment, strengthening industrial productivity, and accelerating implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), widely regarded as one of the continent’s most ambitious economic integration projects despite uneven progress among member states.
Unlike many global conferences focused on African development, the Africa CEO Forum places particular emphasis on African-led solutions and private-sector driven growth.
Organisers say the forum is designed to prioritise the continent’s own strategic priorities, with business leaders positioned as central actors in shaping long-term economic transformation.
For Kigali, hosting the event aligns with Rwanda’s broader strategy of leveraging international convenings as both an economic and diplomatic tool.
Over the past decade, the city has cultivated a reputation as a reliable host for major global events, and the Africa CEO Forum further reinforces that positioning.
With heads of state, investors, corporate executives and policymakers converging on the Rwandan capital, the gathering is expected to strengthen Rwanda’s profile as a key platform for investment dialogue and regional economic cooperation.
