Africa CEO Forum Closes in Kigali With Calls for Regional Integration and Local Value Addition

Overview

• The two-day gathering, which closed Friday in Kigali, drew more than 2,800 participants from over 90 countries and brought together CEOs, investors and heads of state.
• IFC head Makhtar Diop warned that exporting raw minerals only to buy back finished goods at a premium must end, urging local processing to drive jobs and sovereignty.
• B20 Sherpa Cas Coovadia pressed countries to source inputs from one another to raise intra-African trade and to add value to minerals within the continent.
• SME financing gaps remained a central concern, as delegate Kizito Okechukwu called for coordinated public and private funding so young founders can take ideas to market and create jobs.
• Speakers highlighted youth skills, AI and digital integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area as levers to link talent, capital and markets into engines of employment.