On Thursday, April 16, the Africa Center hosted the Investing in Africa Forum on the margins of the 2026 IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings. The forum convened senior policymakers, business leaders, development finance institutions, and civil society leaders to explore opportunities shaping Africa’s economic future.

Opening the forum, Atlantic Council Executive Vice Chair Adrienne Arsht underscored the continent’s growing global significance. “We don’t look at Africa in the distant future—Africa is now,” she said, noting that “In 2025, seven of the ten fastest-growing economies were in Africa. In 2026, Africa’s economic growth is forecast to outpace Asia for the first time.”

US International Development Finance Corporation CEO Ben Black delivered the opening keynote of the forum, emphasizing that “Africa is ground zero for our shared economic future.” He explained that “Africa’s population, workforce, and consumer markets are expanding faster than any other region in the world. We see opportunities across the continent to invest in key sectors, energy, technology, infrastructure and logistics, critical minerals, health care, and financial services.”

Black added that “our geopolitical competitors have invested heavily across the continent. But too often, these projects have relied on opaque financing, tied procurement, and infrastructure designed primarily to serve external interests.” The result, according to Black: “high and coercive debt burdens, and limited benefits to the workers and local economies. This is not a good deal for any nation.” He explained that the United States is engaging with Africa with “a straightforward approach, guided by one of America’s most successful examples of economic statecraft: the Marshall Plan.”

Dangote Group Founder, President, and CEO Aliko Dangote joined Africa Center Senior Director Rama Yade for a fireside chat. When asked whether Africa can achieve energy independence Dangote responded that “Africa definitely will become self-sufficient, maybe in the next couple of years, maybe by 2028.”

Dangote stressed the indispensable role of the private sector in Africa’s future. “The only engine of growth,” he explained, “is the private sector that will risk their own money, borrow money, and create jobs. So if you don’t really partner with the private sector, it’s actually like trying to clap with one hand”

Dangote also addressed the issue of risk, stating that “the only way to de-risk is that we Africans must lead and show that, yes, that risk is perceived risk. It’s not real risk.” He added that  “foreign investors . . . can only come when they see that we are committed, we are serious, and we’re investing our own money. When you invest your own money, then they will join you”

Dangote pointed to recent investment successes on the continent, stressing that the “things that we believe they are impossible in Africa, they are very possible, and we will lead in making them possible.”

The forum continued with a series of panel discussions on critical minerals, artificial intelligence and data centers, creative industries, and sports as vehicles for economic growth and engagement.

In his remarks, Africa Finance Corporation President and CEO Samaila Zubairu  stressed the importance of proactive investment amid a shifting global landscape. “In a fragmenting world, the greatest investment opportunities will not be found. They will be built,” he said. “ Africa has made its choice. We will not wait for the future to arrive . . . we have taken a decision to build our future now, using our own capital, our own resources, and our own execution capacity.” He also pointed to the Africa Finance Corporation’s growth over the past seven years from approximately four billion dollars in assets to over nineteen billion dollars. “This demonstrates,” he argued, “that African institutions can mobilize capital, structure projects, and deliver at global scale.”

Concluding the forum, Africa Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Dana Banks moderated a ministerial panel with Nardos Bekele-Thomas, chief executive officer of the African Union Development Agency–Partnership for Africa’s Development and Doudou Fwamba Likunde, minister of finance of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bekele-Thomas highlighted that “there are sixty-nine projects that would connect Africa” in” transport, water, digital, and also energy, including initiatives aimed at generating 1.2 gigawatts of power for domestic use and export abroad Likunde emphasized Africa’s demographic and economic potential. “Africa is going to be and is now the continent of the future,” he said. “People should invest in Africa because young people are there, skills are there. What we need is finance mobilization. This is what we’ve been doing to show the way and make sure that we pave a journey of prosperity and peace for everyone.”

On Thursday, April 16, at 9:30 a.m. ET, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center will host its Investing in Africa Forum at the Decatur House on the margins of the 2026 International Monetary Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings.

Africa is experiencing a period of historic economic growth, outpacing Asia for the first time in recent history, as the United States increasingly takes a “trade, not aid” approach toward the continent. The conversations held during the forum will aim to help define a pragmatic, forward-looking roadmap for sustainable investment and long-term economic cooperation with Africa, connecting geopolitics with real-world investment opportunities. International tensions provide an additional reason to increase commitments to Africa, where ongoing structural shifts will impact the coming decades.

This forum builds on the Council’s 2020 conference, Investing in Africa’s Future, during the first Trump administration in partnership with the US Development Finance Corporation. The forum will convene senior policymakers, business leaders, development finance institutions, and civil society leaders to discuss topics such as critical minerals, artificial intelligence and data centers, creative industries, and sports as vehicles for economic growth and engagement.

New policy: In-person attendees will be required to show photo ID upon arrival, and no on-site registration will be permitted.

Please complete the form below to register for this event. Due to limited seating capacity, in-person registration will be confirmed 24 hours before the event.

Please stay tuned for additional speakers.

The Africa Center works to promote dynamic geopolitical partnerships with African states and to redirect US and European policy priorities toward strengthening security and bolstering economic growth and prosperity on the continent.

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