Kigali is hosting the 14th edition of the Africa CEO Forum on May 14 and 15, 2026. More than 2,500 decision-makers from across the continent and beyond are attending, making it one of the largest annual gatherings of Africa’s private sector.
This year’s edition carries a direct theme: “The Scale Imperative: Why Africa Must Embrace Shared Ownership.” The title is not diplomatic language. It reflects a concrete question that African business leaders have been circling for years: how to build enterprises and markets that operate at continental scale, rather than remaining fragmented along national lines.
The forum is organized by Jeune Afrique Media Group and co-hosted by the International Finance Corporation. Rwanda is hosting it for the third time, a detail that says something about the country’s positioning as a platform for high-level economic dialogue on the continent.
The confirmed attendance includes several heads of state, among them Presidents Kagame and Tinubu, alongside ministers, institutional leaders and private sector executives from over 75 countries. Guinea will also be represented at the highest level, with President Mamadi Doumbouya among the confirmed participants. Inaugurated in January 2026 following his election victory, President Doumbouya’s presence signals that Guinea is actively positioning itself within continental economic conversations at a pivotal moment in the country’s transition.
The concentration of decision-makers in one place, over two days, is the format’s core value. It compresses access and accelerates conversations that would otherwise take months to arrange.
On the first day, an Invest in Rwanda session will highlight priority sectors, with planned deal signings and strategic engagements between public and private actors. The second day will broaden the discussion to continental dynamics, with sessions on cross-border investment, shared capital structures, and scalable enterprise models.
For the business leaders present, the question is not whether Africa has the assets to grow. That case has been made. The question being put on the table this week is whether the continent’s private sector is ready to build the structures, partnerships, and ownership models that large-scale growth actually requires.
That is a harder conversation. And Kigali is where it is happening.