Africa CEO Forum

🌍 AFRICA CEO FORUM | Webinar Series 2025 👤 We are delighted to announce that Shaakira Karolia, Ministerial Adviser at the Ministry of Electricity and Energy of South Africa, will be joining our upcoming webinar on Fair Climate Transition. 🚧 Shaakira currently leads the Ministry’s work on the conceptualisation and implementation of innovative transmission finance mechanisms, which are a critical enabler of South Africa’s energy security. As an experienced impact-driven development, policy, and finance expert, Shaakira brings extensive experience from government, academia, and the private sector. She holds a Master's in Econometrics from the University of Pretoria (Cum Laude) and an MBA from the University of Oxford (with distinction). 📅 29 October 2025 | 1:00pm GMT 💡 As Africa drives its energy transition, the challenge goes beyond technology to include societal and economic dimensions: 🔹 How can we ensure energy access while fostering industrialisation? 🔹 What does a fair and equitable transition look like when Africa sets its own terms? 🔹 How can green growth drive both sovereignty and sustainability? 🔗 Register now to join the discussion 👇🏽

🌍 There can be no just energy transition without clean cooking for all. Across Africa, 4 out of 5 households still rely on wood, agricultural waste, or kerosene to cook. This silent crisis claims over 600,000 lives every year — mostly women and children — due to indoor air pollution. 🔥 The impact goes far beyond health: 👩🏾🦱 Women spend 5 hours a day collecting firewood and cooking. 🌳 Each year, firewood collection destroys forests over an area the size of Sierra Leone. 💰 $791 billion are lost annually in healthcare costs and reduced productivity. But change is happening. 💡 In 2024, the Clean Cooking Summit mobilised $2.2 billion to accelerate access to clean cooking in Africa. 🇹🇿 Tanzania’s Women Clean Cooking Programme aims to reach 80% of households by 2034. 🇰🇪 In Kenya, over 2.4 million people now cook with LPG through a pay-as-you-cook model. 🇬🇭 In Ghana, 30% of households use improved stoves, supported by local production and public subsidies. Clean cooking is more than an energy issue — it’s a question of health, equality, and economic empowerment. It can save time, create 1.5 million jobs, and avoid 1.5 gigatons of CO₂ — as much as global aviation and shipping combined. 🕊️ Cooking safely is a right. With political will, private innovation, and sustained financing, Africa can achieve universal access to clean cooking by 2030. 🎥 Watch the full video on our YouTube channel: (link in the comments)

🔙 throwback thursday | africa’s consumer revolution starts with distribution 📆 on world food week, africa’s food and consumer industries face a defining challenge — turning demand into development. 🗣️ as Deepankar Rustagi, founder & ceo of OmniRetail Africa, underlined during the africa ceo forum: “distribution is a big part of the challenge in africa... markets like nigeria, kenya or côte d’ivoire have thousands of small fragmented outlets, each operating differently. getting to consumers efficiently means understanding those informal networks, investing in local partners, and adapting to local realities.” 📈 by the end of the decade, africa’s fast-moving consumer goods sector is expected to grow by 8.5% per year, fuelled by a young, urban population and a rapidly expanding middle class. but without strong local value chains — from sourcing inputs to manufacturing, logistics, and retail — this potential will remain underexploited. 💡 for brands, producers, and policymakers alike, the goal is clear: build resilient, inclusive and profitable distribution systems that can meet africa’s growing appetite. #worldfoodday

💡 Webinar Series 2025 : Fair climate transition We are excited to announce that Thierry Hebraud, Chief Executive Officer of MCB Group, will be joining our upcoming webinar on Fair Climate Transition. With about 40 years of expertise in Corporate and Investment Banking, Thierry Hebraud brings invaluable insights into the intersection of energy, finance, and sustainable growth — shaping the future of Africa’s climate transition. 📅 29 October 2025 | 1:00pm GMT As Africa drives its energy transition, the challenge extends beyond technology to encompass societal and economic dimensions: 🔹 How can we ensure energy access while fostering industrialisation? 🔹 What does a fair and equitable transition look like when Africa defines its own terms? 🔹 How can green growth drive both sovereignty and sustainability? 🔗 Register now to join the discussion 👇🏽 #MCBGroup

🌾 Africa’s food future depends on bold partnerships, not potential. - Debra Mallowah 📈 Africa holds 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land — yet imports over $100 billion worth of food every year. 🗣️ As Debra Mallowah, Africa Director for Crop Science at Bayer, reminds us: “Nothing happens until you address hunger.” ⚙️ Food security is not just a humanitarian issue — it’s a business and investment imperative. Productivity gaps, limited access to finance, and fragmented value chains are holding back a sector that could transform Africa’s economy. ☝🏽 Should the private sector take the lead in building resilient agricultural ecosystems — or is stronger state coordination still the missing link? Now is the time to act boldly. #WorldFoodDay

Spotlight Friday | Building Africa’s next industrial frontier 🇬🇳 At the 2025 Africa CEO Forum, Guinea’s Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah unveiled the transformative ambitions behind #Simandou — the world’s largest untapped iron ore deposit. More than a mining venture, Simandou represents a turning point in Africa’s infrastructure and industrial story: 🚆 a 650 km transnational railway ⚓ a new deep-water port 🌍 regional connectivity and economic diversification 🎙️ “Simandou should not stop at being a mining project. We want to change the ecosystem — to build a diversified, resilient, and prosperous economy,” said the Prime Minister. With an expected $15 billion investment and 26% GDP growth by 2030 (IMF), Simandou could redefine the continent’s path towards sustainable industrialisation — if coupled with strong technical training and local content policies.

#ThrowbackThursday | From factory to port: why infrastructure matters On world habitat day, we are reminded that sustainable cities start with strong foundations — and in africa, that means infrastructure. As underlined during the africa ceo forum, “the role of ports in enabling more logistics is of the essence — it connects africa to the rest of the continent.” from ports to power grids, logistics corridors are the arteries of our manufacturing ecosystem, ensuring that industrial growth is not only possible, but sustainable. - Mehdi Tazi Riffi, CEO, Tanger Med Strategic infrastructure and logistics integration are the keys to building competitive regional value chains — aligning transport, energy and industrial policies to turn africa’s vast potential into shared prosperity. ⚙️ For all those shaping africa’s industrial revolution, the message is clear: investing in infrastructure is investing in the continent’s future.

📆 World habitat week 🍃 Access to clean, reliable and affordable energy is at the heart of building inclusive and sustainable communities across Africa. 🗣️ As highlighted by Sarvesh Suri, Regional Industry Director for Infrastructure in Africa at IFC - International Finance Corporation, the Mission 300 initiative—jointly launched by the The World Bank Group and the African Development Bank Group—aims to connect 300 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa to power by 2030. The signing in Nigeria marks a milestone as the first project within this flagship platform. 🌾 From the private sector side, Olu, Aruike Olu, Country Director at Husk Power Systems Nigeria, underlined the transformative role of mini-grids in extending clean energy to rural and off-grid communities. 💬 “Being the first company to join this platform is a strong signal that mini-grids are here to stay. It shows belief that partnerships with IFC and the World Bank can deliver—and that we can realistically connect 49 million Nigerians to clean power within the next decade.” 🤝 This initiative exemplifies how strong public-private collaboration can accelerate progress towards sustainable habitats, bridging the gap between energy access, community resilience, and inclusive growth. #WorldHabitatDay

🌍 AFRICA CEO FORUM | Webinar Series 2025 We are pleased to announce that Tony Tiyou, Chief Executive Officer of Renewables in Africa (RiA) will be joining our upcoming webinar on Fair Climate Transition. 📅 29 October 2025 | 1:00PM GMT As Africa advances its energy transition, the challenge is not only technological but also societal and economic: 🔹 How can we secure energy access while accelerating industrialisation? 🔹 What does a fair and equitable transition look like when Africa sets its own terms? 🔹 How can green growth fuel both sovereignty and sustainability? With years of expertise at the forefront of renewable solutions, Tony Tiyou will share critical insights on Africa’s pathway to a just climate transition — a conversation that will shape the continent’s future competitiveness and resilience. 🔗 Register now to join the discussion 👇🏽

#FollowFriday | 👤 H.E. Alassane Ouattara — 🎬 Opening Ceremony, 🎤 Africa CEO Forum 2025 (📍 Abidjan) I 📅 Invest in Côte d'Ivoire Week 💬 President Ouattara set a clear tone for the private sector: resilience, macro-stability and value-addition at home — with government focused on a predictable business climate and integrated regional value chains. Why this matters to CEOs & investors 🛜 Macro signals: Côte d’Ivoire posts solid growth (≈6% in 2024; ≈6.25% in 2025) with inflation around 3% — a rare combination on the continent. 🍫 Diversification in action: Beyond cocoa (≈40% of global output) and cashew leadership, new oil & gas finds are expanding an already dynamic extractives base. 💰 Private-sector first: Jobs, innovation and investment are expected to be led by business — with the state enabling through policy consistency and intra-African integration. 📈 “Côte d’Ivoire is demonstrating resilience, continuing strong and sustained growth.” 👷🏾 If you’re building in Africa — from manufacturing to agri-processing and energy — this is a signal: local transformation + African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat scale = investable opportunity. 👉 How can the private sector best seize these opportunities and turn them into long-term impact for Africa?