Opinion

The strategic imperative of global business summits on Africa

Published

3 weeks ago

July 27, 2026

By Ehi Braimah

Africa has emerged as one of the most strategic frontiers for global investment, trade, innovation, and economic transformation.

Also read: Under Akpabio’s watch, Nigeria’s budget almost a bazaar

With a population projected to exceed 2.5 billion by 2050, abundant natural resources, a rapidly expanding middle class, and the world’s youngest workforce, the continent is increasingly attracting the attention of governments, multinational corporations, investors, development institutions, and entrepreneurs.

Against this backdrop, global business summits hosted in Africa and across the world on Africa, have become vital platforms for dialogue, partnership-building, and economic cooperation.

From investment forums and trade expos to leadership conferences and innovation summits, these gatherings bring together policymakers, business executives, financiers, academics, and development experts to discuss opportunities and challenges shaping Africa’s future.

Beyond networking events, they have become powerful instruments for driving economic growth, fostering regional integration, and positioning Africa as a key player in the global economy.

The summits on Africa and where they hold

The France-Africa Summit, otherwise known as Africa Future Forward Summit, held in Nairobi, Kenya from May 11 – 12 for the first time in an Anglophone country.

It was followed by Biashara Afrika in Lome, Togo, which held from May 18 – 22, while the London-Africa Business Summit convened by Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, held on June 4.

The London Summit attracted diaspora professionals, international investors, and policymakers to discuss the harmonisation of capital markets, tech investments and economic growth on Africa.

On July 30, the Global Africa Summit will hold at the Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada. The summit will focus on translating Canada’s Africa Strategy into tangible trade, fintech, infrastructure, and green energy by connecting institutional investors with emerging African markets.

Other major and annual recurring events include the US-Africa Business Summit holding in Mauritius from July 26 – 29, co-hosted by the Corporate Council on Africa and the Government of Mauritius; the Opportunities in Africa Summit in New York City where investors and entrepreneurs explore Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) opportunities in high-growth markets like Rwanda, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire.

There’s also the US-Africa Leaders’ Summit in Washington DC, USA; the Africa CEO Forum, the Climate Change Global Business Summit on Africa which holds in Nairobi, Kenya; the Financial Times (FT) Africa Summit that will hold from October 21 – 22, at The Landmark, London; the Transform Africa Summit, the continent’s premier annual forum on technology, innovation and digital transformation organised by Smart Africa Alliance, and others.

Growing relevance of the summits

Global business summits serve as meeting points where ideas, capital, and opportunities converge. Their relevance has increased significantly as African economies seek to diversify beyond traditional sectors such as oil, gas, and mining into manufacturing, technology, agriculture, renewable energy, healthcare, and digital services.

These summits provide a unique platform for governments to showcase investment opportunities and policy reforms aimed at attracting FDI.

Investors, in turn, gain valuable insights into emerging markets, regulatory environments, and sector-specific opportunities.

For local businesses, the events offer exposure to international markets, potential partners, and financing sources.

The role of AfCFTA

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) should be the economic anchor of every Africa-focused global business summit.

Whether in Abuja, Lagos, Nairobi, Kigali, Mauritius, Paris, London, New York, Washington DC, Dubai, Moscow, or Beijing, AfCFTA must be presented not merely as a trade agreement but as Africa’s blueprint for industrialisation, regional value chains and a single market of over 1.4 billion people.

Rather than promoting 54 fragmented economies, African leaders should speak with one voice, using AfCFTA to attract investment in manufacturing, infrastructure, digital technology, agriculture and clean energy.

Global summits on Africa should therefore move beyond aid and commodity exports to partnerships that expand intra-African trade, technology transfer, skills development and value addition.

A united AfCFTA agenda will strengthen Africa’s bargaining power, reduce trade barriers, create jobs and position the continent as a competitive global investment destination.

Africa’s economic transformation depends on making AfCFTA the centrepiece of every international business engagement.

Benefits

One of the most significant benefits of global business summits is their ability to attract investment. Many investment deals, public-private partnerships, and development projects originate from conversations initiated during these events.

By bringing together key decision-makers in one location, summits reduce barriers to engagement and facilitate quicker decision-making.

Another major benefit is knowledge exchange. Participants gain access to expert insights on market trends, emerging technologies, sustainable development practices, climate finance, and global economic shifts.

Such knowledge helps businesses and governments make informed decisions that enhance competitiveness and resilience.

Business summits also stimulate tourism and local economic activity. Hotels, transportation services, restaurants, event management firms, and other service providers benefit from the influx of delegates.

Host cities often gain international visibility, improving their reputation as business and investment destinations.

Furthermore, these events contribute to capacity building. Young entrepreneurs, startups, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) gain opportunities to learn from industry leaders, access mentorship, and connect with investors. This helps nurture the next generation of African business leaders and innovators.

On a broader scale, global business summits support economic diplomacy. Governments use these platforms to strengthen bilateral and multilateral relationships, negotiate trade agreements, and promote regional cooperation. Such engagements can lead to long-term economic partnerships that benefit multiple countries.

Africa’s strategic importance in the global economy

The increasing number of global business summits on Africa reflects the continent’s growing strategic importance.

Africa possesses approximately 30 percent of the world’s mineral reserves, including critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, manganese, and rare earth elements that are essential for electric vehicles, renewable energy technologies, and advanced manufacturing.

In addition, Africa’s agricultural potential remains largely untapped. The continent holds vast areas of arable land capable of contributing significantly to global food security.

Its expanding urban population and rising consumer demand also make it one of the most promising growth markets in the world.

The continent’s digital revolution further enhances its attractiveness. Mobile technology, fintech innovation, e-commerce, and digital payment systems have transformed business operations across many African countries such as Nigeria and Kenya.

Investors increasingly view Africa not only as a source of raw materials but also as a market for innovation and technological advancement.

The new scramble for Africa

The growing international interest in Africa has led many analysts to describe current geopolitical and economic competition as a “New Scramble for Africa.” Unlike the colonial-era scramble of the late nineteenth century, today’s competition is driven primarily by economic, technological, and strategic interests rather than direct territorial control.

Major global powers, including the United States, China, the European Union, India, Turkey, Russia, and Gulf states, are actively expanding their engagement across Africa.

They compete for access to natural resources, infrastructure projects, trade opportunities, energy partnerships, digital markets, and geopolitical influence.

China has become one of Africa’s largest trading partners and infrastructure financiers, investing heavily in roads, railways, ports, and industrial parks.

Western nations have responded by increasing investment initiatives focused on sustainable development, clean energy, digital infrastructure, and private sector growth.

Meanwhile, emerging powers are seeking to deepen commercial and diplomatic ties through trade agreements, investment missions, and development partnerships.

Global business summits often serve as arenas where these competing interests intersect. International corporations and governments use such forums to announce investment commitments, launch strategic partnerships, and strengthen economic relationships with African nations.

While increased global attention creates opportunities for growth and development, it also presents challenges. African countries must ensure that investments contribute to sustainable development, local job creation, technology transfer, and industrialization.

Effective governance, transparency, and strategic negotiation are essential to ensuring that Africa derives maximum benefit from foreign engagement.

Africa’s future

As Africa’s economic influence continues to grow, global business summits will play an increasingly important role in shaping the continent’s future.

These events provide platforms for investment mobilisation, innovation exchange, policy dialogue, and international cooperation.

They also help position African countries as active participants in global economic decision-making rather than passive recipients of external interests.

The challenge and opportunity for Africa lie in leveraging these platforms to advance its own development priorities.

By fostering strategic partnerships, promoting intra-African trade, supporting entrepreneurship, and ensuring inclusive growth, business summits can become powerful catalysts for transformation.

In the context of the new scramble for Africa, the continent is no longer merely a destination for external interests.

Increasingly, it is becoming a dynamic actor with the capacity to shape global markets, influence international investment flows, and define its own development trajectory.

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Global business summits on Africa provide one of the most visible and effective mechanisms through which this transformation can be realised.

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Opinion

Tributes to Dr. Segun Osoba and Abosede Oluwayemisi

Published

2 weeks ago

August 5, 2026

Mariam Balogun

By Bola BOLAWOLE,

Dr. Segun Osoba, Marxist scholar and historian, was one of my mentors and role models. Our paths crossed long before I came face-to-face with the enigma at the then University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, where he not only taught me courses in the History department, but was also our staff adviser and comrade.

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Cerebral and unflinchingly principled, Osoba snubbed the usual hussle, if I may call it that, of many academics to attain to the professoral status, preferring to remain “Dr.” even though everyone knew he was not the mate of many a professor!

For me, Osoba’s fame travelled far ahead of him. Appointed by the Murtala Muhammed regime into the Constitution Drafting Committee in October 1975, Osoba, together with his ideological soulmate, Dr. Bala Usman of the History department of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, broke ranks with the other members of the CDC to author a people-oriented draft Constitution that made the Nigerian people’s interests, aspirations and well-being its focal point. It was termed the Minority Report.

Expectedly, the conservative Olusegun Obasanjo regime that succeeded Murtala Muhammed rejected the Osoba/Bala Usman report while accepting the report of the majority members of the CDC on September 14, 1976. The CDC was chaired by Chief FRA Williams.

The majority/minority report divide apart, the CDC was not without its controversies: The sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had declined to serve on the committee, thereby reducing its members from 50 to 49. There was also the debate as to what would have been the choice of a much more radical Murtala Muhammed had he not been assassinated on February 13, 1976.

Specifically because of Osoba and Bala Usman, I chose to study History in the university! And I was fortunate to drink from the fountain of knowledge at the feet of Dr. Osoba on and off the classroom. As comrades, our relationship did not end at Ife; usually, comradeship is a life-long endeavour.

In late December 2023, after a spell of ‘long-time-no-see’, four of us old students/comrades of Comrade Osoba decided to visit him at his Ijebu-Ode residence – Femi Falana, SAN; Ambassador Ayo Olukanni; Kayode Komolafe (K.K.) and my humble self.

Comrade was still his very sharp and humorous self. Despite his health challenges, he still “recognised” each and everyone of us by our voice. We discussed for hours and it was amazing that ill-health spared his intellect. He was his familiar self – analytical, even if caustic, going down memory lane and recalling facts and figures as if he was reading them from a book spread out before him.

We promised to return. Unfortunately, we procrastinated, despite Olukanni’s repeated prodding. But as individuals, we attended his 90th birthday celebration held at Ijebu-Ode on 9th January, 2025. His book, “Critical and Contentious Issues in the Modern and Contemporary History of Nigeria: Collected Writings of Samuel Olusegun Osoba”, which was unveiled at the occasion, adorns my Library. See also my “Tributes to Comrade (Dr.) Segun Osoba at 90”, published in this column in the Wednesday, 15 January, 2025 edition of the New Telegraph newspaper.

Dr. Osoba passed away peacefully at home in Ijebu-Ode on 14 May, 2026. A flurry of activities by comrades from all the nooks and crannies of this country as well as abroad celebrated his life, extolled his virtues, pledged to continue the struggle from where he stopped, and bid him farewell from this earthly plane. In this were the words of Che Guevara fulfilled: “Wherever death may surprise us, let it be welcome, provided that this, our battle cry, may have reached some receptive ear and another hand may be extended to wield our weapons (Message to the Tricontinental, 1967).”

I was unable to participate fully in some of the activities because of the tragedy that fell at my doorsteps at about the same time.

First, my elder sister’s husband, Gabriel Alani Olusola Omiyale, died on June 11, 2026 at the age of 89 years. He was a mentor. Then came the bombshell: His daughter – and my sister’s second child, Abosede Oluwayemisi – died the same month on June 29th at the age of 54!

That was massive! To say we were devastated is an understatement. If the pains that attended Bose’s death remain indescribable, the ways and manners of her husband and his family immediately before and after her death remain a puzzle. They rubbed insults on our injury.

They desecrated our Yoruba customs and traditions. Bose had heroically battled the scourge of breast cancer; after undergoing an operation, we were all optimistic she was on the path to full recovery until tests showed she needed more medical attention.

Naturally, she was devastated but, gradually, she built up the confidence and strength required to see her through. No stone was left unturned by her extended family who did not leave the load for the husband and his family to carry. All hands were on deck.

The extended family had always been there for Bose. Her siblings had been wonderful; never allowing her husband’s unstable job situation to show or affect Bose’s treatment and other needs, including her children’s education and welfare. I also played my part. I am grateful to everyone who responded to our clarion call in many ways.

We were hopeful we would all pull through it and that Bose’s case would be another testimony that cancer can be beaten. All she needed – as much as medicare – were words of encouragement and support. That, however, became the weakest link!

Act one: Against the best advice of her mother, my niece was made to consume a concoction that turned the tide. According to her husband, the concoction was procured by his own brother in Akure, Ondo state, taken to a church for prayers after which it was dispatched through a motorpark! Bose drank this concoction and started vomiting. In his own testimonies, Bose’s husband took her to a hospital where she was given drips, which gave her some strength, but because the doctor was late in coming, he took her back home despite the fact that the test they ran indicated that she had a blood infection! That night at home, she started vomiting again and, according to the husband’s testimony, he took her again to the hospital by 1.30am. She was left unattended until late afternoon when she fell into a coma! Bose’s blood infection was never treated until she passed away!

Act Two: Our standard practice had been to always double-check whatever a doctor said or prescribed, but on this fatal day, Bose’s husband kept all of us in the dark. We were not told of the blood infection. We were not alerted when she started vomiting again in the night. We were not informed when he took her again to the hospital. According to him, Bose walked with her own legs into the hospital, climbing the row of stairs all by herself.

Act Three: At the hospital, the husband took Bose’s phone and locked it in the car parked downstairs. So she had no access to her phone – to call out or receive in-coming calls. She was held incommunicado. And there was no one else there with the husband and wife. He called noone; he also snubbed repeated incoming calls into his own phone, including from my elder sister, who is Bose’s mother.

Act four: Later that afternoon, the husband called me to say Bose was not responding to treatment and that I should start interceding for her. I was aghast! I had been waiting all day for them to link up with me for a scheduled appointment. Later, a female voice using the husband’s phone called me to quickly come to the hospital. I was on my way there when Bose’s second child, a girl writing exams at the Obafemi Awolowo University, called me, sobbing! “Daddy, what is happening to my Mom? My Daddy called me and said my Mummy is in coma” Coma! “Yes, sir”, the girl replied, “and my Daddy said my Mummy is dead!” I almost lost control of the wheel because I was driving.

Act Five: On getting to the hospital, they had already started embalming Bose! I screamed at the husband, but the hospital staff restrained me. Why the haste? Without any of her family members present! A thousand thoughts ran riot in my head. At 6.28 pm, Bose’s mortal remains were deposited in the morgue and we left.

Act Six: While we were agonizing about how to break the sad news to Bose’s mother, her husband and his family had posted Bose’s death on every conceivable social media platform, breaking the news to her young children, the oldest of whom is just a little over 20 years while the youngest is 14!

Act seven: We the siblings of Bose’s mother wanted a decent burial for her. We wanted her dreams and visions for her children respected. Bose’s husband and his family spurned all of that! They weaponized Bose’s young children against us. They threw their so-called customs and traditions in our face at every turn – as if the Yoruba have no customs and traditions. They employed deceit and subterfuge and hurriedly committed Bose to mother earth without any of her family members present! We warned! They ignored and played games!

Google says Edema is a name answered by both the Urhobo and Itsekiri people of Delta state. Does their culture permit the trumping of Yoruba customs and traditions? Should a husband boast to his children – while their mother was still battling cancer – that, if she dies, he will remarry? So, expect his wedding invitation!

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Had Bose died of cancer, our pains would have been less insufferable; but she did not! Were they tired of the stress and wanted closure so they could move on with their own life? Hastened to her death! Hurried to the grave! This is to put the records straight. Our immediate attention, however, is the good health of Bose’s mother – and Daddy Omiyale’s burial slated for 29th and 30th of October this year.

Let Dr. Segun Osoba rest in power! And eternal rest grant Abosede Oluwayemisi Edema (nee Omiyale), O Lord!

(Published in the TREASURES column on the back page of the Wednesday, 5 August, 2026 edition of the New Telegraph newspaper).