Spring Meeting 2026

Speakers:

• HE Leila Benali, Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, Kingdom of Morocco
• Justin Vaïsse, Founder and Director General, Paris Peace Forum
• Younes Addou, Vice President Agribusiness & Sustainability Solutions, INNOVX (Group OCP)
• Augustin Grandgeorge, Head of Development Initiatives, Paris Peace Forum

This roundtable is part of the ATLAS MAVA FORUM, a joint initiative bringing together the ATLAS and MAVA platforms to tackle Africa’s agricultural financing coordination challenge, connecting national plans to capital, DFIs to bankable pipelines, and farmers to scalable technology and finance.

Roundtable session co-built with WBG, INNOVX and ATLAS

This session will explore how coordinated platforms can help overcome one of the most persistent constraints in African agriculture: translating national strategies, reform agendas, and investment plans into coherent, financeable, and scalable pipelines that mobilize both public and private capital. The discussion will place AgriConnect at the center of this coordination challenge, while also illustrating how partnerships between the World Bank Group and strategic actors—such as OCP—can support its objectives. In this context, initiatives like MAVA provide a concrete example of how public‑private collaboration can help operationalize AgriConnect priorities and move beyond fragmented interventions toward integrated, country‑led financing approaches.

AgriConnect is the World Bank Group’s flagship initiative to transform agriculture and agribusiness by integrating policy reform, public investment, advisory support, and private sector finance. It aims to help farmers transition from subsistence to more productive, market-oriented systems, while generating jobs, strengthening food systems, and mobilizing large-scale investment. With a target of improving the livelihoods of 300 million farmers by 2030, AgriConnect focuses on three pillars—strengthening foundations, reforming policies, and mobilizing capital—and operates as a collaborative platform that brings together governments, private sector actors, and development partners to scale impact at country and value chain levels.

The session will be further structured around two complementary panel discussions. The first panel, Building Foundations for Scale, will explore the critical building blocks required to scale agricultural innovations effectively, including enabling policies, partnerships, data systems, and farmer-centric solutions. The second panel, Unlocking Capital & Scaling Solutions, will focus on the financing and business models needed to accelerate scale, including how to mobilize public and private capital, strengthen collaboration across stakeholders, and overcome barriers to investment in high-impact agricultural value chains.

The session aims to examine how AgriConnect can function as a country-level coordination framework that effectively aligns policy reforms, public investment, and private sector engagement. It will also seek to identify concrete actions that can be further developed in collaboration with interested stakeholders to enhance agri-finance mobilization and support the scaling of sustainable agricultural investment.

Speakers:

Welcome Remarks: 

• Anup Jagwani, Director, Farming and Agribusiness, World Bank Group
  

AgriConnect presentation: 

• Chakib Jenane, Regional Practice Director, Planet, West & Central Africa, World Bank Group  

Panel 1: Building Foundations for Scale  

• Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) 
• Hajar Alafifi, Chief Executive Officer, OCP Africa  
• Carl Manlan, Chief Partnerships & Business Development, AGRA  
• Alise Dykstra Thomas, Senior Manager, Partnerships & Consulting, PULA  

Moderator:  

• Patrick Dupoux, Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group (BCG) 

Panel 2: Unlocking Capital & Scaling Solutions  

• Emmanuel Marchant,Senior Vice President, Sustainability and Partnerships, General Manager, Danone Ecosystem, Danone 
• Younes Addou, Vice President Agribusiness & Sustainability Solutions, INNOVX (Group OCP)  
• Hamza Rkha Chaham, Founder & CEO, SOWIT- TAKAMOUL  
• Malik Souali, Strategic Advisor, ENABEL  

Moderator: 

• David Tinel, Country Manager for the Maghreb, International Finance Corporation (IFC) 

This roundtable is part of the ATLAS MAVA FORUM, a joint initiative bringing together the ATLAS and MAVA platforms to tackle Africa’s agricultural financing coordination challenge, connecting national plans to capital, DFIs to bankable pipelines, and farmers to scalable technology and finance.

African agriculture faces a stark paradox: a continent holding 60% of the world’s arable land yet struggling with a $200 billion annual financing gap and a deep coordination disconnect that keeps promising innovations trapped at pilot stage. While agri-tech startups, climate-smart practices and digital tools are multiplying across the continent, structural barriers — fragmented ecosystems, misaligned investment pipelines and weak links to national priorities — prevent them from scaling across value chains.  

This roundtable brings together decision-makers to bridge that gap. Drawing on the Briters Innovation Report, participants will diagnose the state of African agri-innovation, pinpoint the bottlenecks blocking scale and long-term capital, and define the roles of DFIs, governments, corporates and philanthropies in de-risking solutions. The goal: identify concrete innovation-to-investment pathways that ATLAS can advance in its 2026 work programme — turning ecosystem dynamism into structured, investment-ready pipelines that deliver real impact for farmers and food systems at scale. 

Speakers:

• Alise Dykstra Thomas, Senior Manager, Partnerships and Consulting, PULA
• Jihane Ajijti, Africa & Brazil Director, TOURBA
• Maryama Hmaidi, Lead Data Scientist, Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
• Aniss Bouraqqadi, Agronomy Director, OCP Nutricrops
• Younes Addou, Vice President Agribusiness & Sustainability Solutions, InnovX
• Meryem Bennis, Upstream Officer FIG Africa, Global Agriconnect Platform Morocco, International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Racine Ly, Director, Data Intelligence and Governance, AKADEMIYA2063
• Marie-Claire Kalihangabo, Coordinator, AFFM, African Development Bank
• Carl Manlan, Chief, Partnerships and Business Development, AGRA
• Sandrine Dury, Regional Director for the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Balkan Countries, CIRAD
• Bruno Meireles de Sousa, Operating Partner, Bidra Innovation Ventures
• Celso Moretti, Chief Executive Officer, The OpenAg Foundation
• Maryam Guessous, Head of Domseeds, Studio Les Domaines
• Ali Moutaib, Program Officer of 50×2030 Initiative, The World Bank Group

Moderator:

• David Saunders, Director of Strategy and Growth, Briter

Organised in collaboration with the Mediterranean Action Committee

The two shores of the Mediterranean are now experiencing structural complementarity. On the one hand, Europe is facing growing pressure on its agricultural labor markets: in France alone, France Travail anticipates more than 200,000 new hires in the sector, against a backdrop of accelerated demographic aging and a decline in local workers’ interest in agricultural jobs. On the other, the southern Mediterranean has a young, available, and increasingly skilled workforce. This imbalance presents an opportunity and calls for coordinated responses.

Some agri-food value chains have already seized this opportunity to the fullest, building genuinely integrated models across both shores. The Azura Group stands as a case in point: with farms stretching from Agadir to Dakhla in southern Morocco, a refrigerated logistics hub in Perpignan, and Franco-Moroccan joint capital, it illustrates what Euro-Mediterranean economic integration can look like in practice, when applied at scale. Yet, not all segments of the agricultural sector have achieved this level of integration. Seasonal agricultural migration is gaining traction — Andalusia alone accounts for more than 93,000 foreign agricultural workers, representing over a third of Spain’s national total — but existing frameworks could be more structured, co-designed, and mutually beneficia and more adapted to the scale of the need. If organized, circular seasonal migration schemes could therefore emerge as a response to these gaps, as a lever for balancing European agricultural labor markets. 

Yet not all segments of the agricultural sector have reached this level of integration. Seasonal agricultural migration is gaining traction — Andalusia alone accounts for more than 93,000 foreign agricultural workers, representing over a third of Spain’s national total — and existing frameworks exist. But structured, co-designed seasonal migration schemes could further close these gaps and become levers for balancing agricultural labor markets.

Discussions will also focus on the social dimension of these networks: relying largely on a female seasonal workforce, they represent a lever for economic empowerment, provided that working conditions live up to this commitment.

This panel aims to examine, based on concrete experiences, the conditions under which seasonal agricultural mobility schemes can become a sustainable driver of Euro-Mediterranean integration.

Speakers:

• Hakim El Karoui, Founding partner, Volentia ; President & Founder, Action Committee for the Mediterranean
• Katarina Stohrova, First Councellor, Delegation of the European Union in Morocco
• Martin Fortes Delacroix, Regional Coordinator for North Africa, Expertise France

Moderator:

• Marc Reverdin, Secretary-General, Action Committee for the Mediterranean

Africa faces a dual crisis: a $200 billion agricultural financing gap and a hidden hunger epidemic, with 925 million people unable to afford healthy diets and 80% of women in Sub-Saharan Africa deficient in at least one micronutrient. Decades of intensive farming and soil degradation have quietly stripped staple crops of essential nutrients — a crisis largely invisible yet affecting billions.

The solution lies beneath our feet. Agronomic biofortification — improving nutritional quality through better soil health, micronutrient-enriched fertilizers and resilient seed varieties — offers a scalable, cost-effective pathway from soil to health. But scaling it demands coordinated action across the entire value chain, from farmers and researchers to processors, financiers and policymakers.

This roundtable explores how to turn that vision into reality: aligning incentives, structuring partnerships and shifting agriculture’s measure of success from yield alone to nutrition, livelihoods and sustainability.

Speakers:

Resilient and sustainable transition mineral value chains are central to the energy transition, digital economy and industrial resilience. Yet, current financing frameworks in minerals value chains are not delivering investment at the scale or speed required. The IEA estimates USD 800 billion in mining investment will be needed by 2040 to stay on a 1.5°C pathway, while UNCTAD points to a USD 225 billion shortfall in developing economies alone. This closed-door session will bring together Members and Special Advisors of the Global Council for Responsible Transition Minerals, government representatives, development banks experts, industry and civil society to tackle the most pressing challenges and solutions to financing responsible minerals value chains. This session will also be an opportunity for the Working Group on Financing Responsible Transition Minerals, convened by the Paris Peace Forum, to present its recently adopted policy note. With the French G7 Presidency placing financing transition minerals value chains at the top of the multilateral agenda ahead of the Evian Summit, this session offers a critical window to align credible financing approaches with resource-rich producing countries expectations.  

Speakers:

• Etienne Sum Wah, Trade Lead, Embassy of Canada to the Kingdom of Morocco
• Bertrand Poche, Deputy Director, Agence française de développement (AFD) Office – Morocco
• Glen Mpufane,  Executive Director, GM Mining ESG Consulting ; Member of the Global Council for Responsible Transition Minerals
• Armando Ayala, Head of Just Transition Finance, Southern Transitions
• Vincenzo Conforti, Head of Government Relations Europe, Glencore
• Noemie Benfella, Junior Policy Analyst, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
• Céline Kauffmann, Chief Programmes Officer, Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales (IDDRI)
• Bruno Oberle, President, World Resource Forum Association (WRF), Co-chair of the Global Council for Responsible Transition Minerals
• Gordon Poole, Founder and Director, Isvern Advisory
• Ma Jun, Founding Director, Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs ; Member of the Global Council for Responsible Transition Minerals
• Ilaria Carnevali, Resident Representative of UNDP in the Kingdom of Morocco
• Assheton Carter, Founder and Executive Director, Fair Cobalt Alliance; Founder and Chairman, TDi Sustainability; Founder and CIO, The Impact Facility
• Benjamin Gallezot, Interministerial Delegate on Strategic Metals and Minerals, France

Moderator:

• Adrien Abecassis, Chief Policy Officer, Paris Peace Forum

Speakers:

African states, still grappling with the economic aftershocks of the Russia–Ukraine war, are now faced with the additional side effects of the US-Iran war such as spikes in energy prices, trade disruptions, or financial volatility. The suspension of fertilizer supply chains through the Gulf region for instance is dramatically affecting African agribusiness, agrarian smallholder economies and food security.  

As geopolitical tensions intensify and conflicts multiply worldwide, security and economic sovereignty are increasingly dominating national and global agendas and budgets. The succession of crises the world is undergoing demonstrates how fundamental building resilience has become. In this context, what space is left for development priorities and fair transitions? Can the momentum behind the 2030 Agenda survive in a world marked by fragmentation, strategic competition and the weakening of international institutions and rules?  

This panel will explore how Africa can navigate this complex matrix of disruptions, instability and aid cuts in a world marked by intensifying great-power rivalry and regional conflict. It will also discuss how cooperation can adapt to these shifting dynamics, how resilience can be built and reinforced, how resources can be mobilized through multilateral efforts and also how African domestic resources mobilization can be accelerated, to face the world’s most crucial challenges and ensure sustainable and resilient development, particularly in Africa.  

Speakers:

The panel examines how recent global crises—COVID‑19, the war in Ukraine, and fertilizer market disruptions—have exposed deep structural weaknesses in Africa’s food systems. Despite vast agricultural potential, Africa remains highly dependent on food and fertilizer imports, leaving it vulnerable to external shocks. These crises have highlighted the urgent need for greater food and input self‑sufficiency. At the same time, the shocks have clarified solutions: boosting domestic fertilizer production, reducing import reliance, strengthening regional value chains, and aligning policy, investment, and implementation. With agriculture already employing over 70% of Africa’s population, the continent has the capacity to feed itself and contribute to global food security if properly financed and coordinated. Building on progress made through the ATLAS sessions on financing, innovation and nutrition, the panel focuses on accelerating concrete action. Its goal is to turn crisis lessons into coordinated public‑private investment and sustained agricultural transformation across Africa.

Keynote speech

• Ahmed El Bouari, Minister of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests, Kingdom of Morocco 

Speakers:

• Anup Jagwani, Director, Farming and Agribusiness, World Bank Group (WBG)
• Carl Manlan, Chief, Partnerships and Business Development, AGRA
• Sandra Bartelt, Principal Adviser for G7 and G20 Sustainable Development Agendas, Directorate-General for International Partnerships (INTPA), European Commission
• Younes Addou, Vice President Agribusiness & Sustainability Solutions, INNOVX (Group OCP)     
• Amal Benaissa, Director, Sustainability Advocacy, Bank of Africa

Moderator:

• Patrick Dupoux, Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

In an environment of difficult choices and weighing tradeoffs, investing in children becomes a powerful, unifying lever to foster human development and resilience in the most vulnerable populations. The Child Priority Framework (CPF) aims to elevate child wellbeing across the five pillars of health, education, nutrition, protection, and psycho-social development, as a global development priority. As children represent the most effective and most unifying investment for long-term global stability and prosperity, this panel will take stock of progress achieved ahead of the G7 Summit in Evian on the Children’s Agenda.

Part 1:

Speakers:

• Laura Bill, Representative, Morocco, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
• Yusra Mardini, Olympic Swimmer, Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Moderator:

• Trisha Shetty, Founder and President, SheSays ; President of the Steering Committee, Paris Peace Forum

Part 2:

Speakers:

• Asmae Boureddaya, Resident Representative, AUDA-NEPAD
• Sandra Bartelt, Principal Adviser for G7 and G20 Sustainable Development Agendas, Directorate-General for International Partnerships (INTPA), European Commission
• Matteo Maestracci, Global Public Affairs Director, Danone

Moderator:

As demand for Transition Minerals accelerates, producer countries in the Global South sit at the heart of new strategic value chains, yet too often remain at the margins of decision-making. In a context where strategic minerals take an increasing share of multilateral discussion, including with the 2026 French Presidency of the G7, this high-level panel, convened with members of the Global Council for Responsible Transition Minerals, will explore how to put the Global South at the center of resilient and sustainable mineral value chains. Bringing together perspectives from governments, industry, and international organizations, speakers will discuss how to reconcile security of supply with equitable value creation and the role of South-South cooperation. The conversation will look into pathways for a global architecture of shared governance for transition minerals.

Speakers: 

• Glen Mpufane, Member of the Global Council for Responsible Transition Minerals ; Executive Director, GM Mining ESG Consulting
• Bruno Oberle, President, World Resource Forum Association (WRF)
• Ma Jun, Founding Director, Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs
• Amine Houssaim, Chief Executive Officer, InnovX
• Adil Chikhi, Regional Director, Head of Corporates for Africa, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) 

Moderator:

• Céline Kauffmann, Chief Programmes Officer, Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales (IDDRI)

In the wake of Resilient Transitions, and Rabat’s UNESCO designation as the 2026 World Book Capital, this session will explore the role of imaginaries as vectors of freedom and cultural emancipation, as well as the modalities of their circulation, transmission, and collective development with young people.

Organized at the heart of a university of excellence, panelists will highlight how collective narratives, cultural and creative industries, and spaces for dialogue contribute to shaping more open, innovative, and inclusive societies. The discussion will examine the dynamics enabling youth to reclaim, produce, and circulate their own narratives in a world marked by profound transformations and a growing global connectivity.

By bringing together academic, cultural, and institutional actors, the session will analyze how the emergence of new collective imaginaries, in line with the aspirations of a youth facing polycrisis, participates in ongoing intellectual, symbolic, and cultural transitions.

Speakers:

• Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Assistant Director General for Culture a.i. and Director of the World Heritage Centre, UNESCO (Video)
• Hajar Azell Chokairi, Writer and cultural entrepreneur
• Rabiaa Marhouch, Editor, Writer and Academic
• Fatiha El Moudni, Mayor, City of Rabat

Moderator:

• Khalid Chegraoui, Vice-Dean International Relations, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P), Faculty of Governance, Economics, and Social Sciences (FGSES)

Speakers :

• Trisha Shetty, Founder and President, SheSays; President of the Steering Committee, Paris Peace Forum
• Justin Vaïsse, Founder and Director General, Paris Peace Forum  
• Hicham El Habti, President, University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P)