The FT Africa Summit, now in its 13th year, returns to London on 21–22 October 2026. The Financial Times’ established forum for dialogue on turning Africa’s challenges into economic, social and business opportunities will run across two days, in person and virtually, at The Landmark on Marylebone Road.
This year’s edition keeps the summit’s core ground — natural resources, energy, finance and investment — but adds new streams built around where growth is actually showing up: industrialisation, infrastructure and technology.
Why This Summit Matters
For over a decade, the FT Africa Summit has functioned as one of the few rooms where former Heads of State, sitting ministers, policymakers, business leaders and financiers sit across the same table to argue through Africa’s growth story rather than just present it. That format hasn’t changed. What has changed is the agenda underneath it.
The 2026 programme reflects a broader shift already visible across the continent’s capital conversations this year: the story is no longer just about resources and macro finance, but about who builds the factories, ports, power grids and digital infrastructure that convert growth into jobs. Adding industrialisation, infrastructure and tech as standalone streams is the Summit’s acknowledgment that the “Africa opportunity” conversation has moved past extraction and macro stability into build-out.
Key Themes & Discussions
The 2026 agenda spans two tracks — the Summit’s long-standing core and its new additions:
- Natural Resources & Energy: Managing resource wealth and the continent’s energy transition.
- Finance & Investment: Capital flows, deal-making and the state of investor appetite for Africa.
- Industrialisation: New this year — building manufacturing and value-add capacity on the continent.
- Infrastructure: Financing and delivering the physical backbone growth depends on.
- Technology: Where digital and tech-enabled growth is concentrating across African markets.
Who Should Attend
The Summit is built for a senior, decision-making audience:
- Policymakers & Former Heads of State: Government leaders shaping the regulatory and investment climate.
- Business Leaders: Corporates operating or expanding across African markets.
- Financiers & Investors: DFIs, fund managers, and institutional capital allocators.
- Sector Specialists: Executives across energy, infrastructure, industrial and tech sectors.
Key Details
- Event: FT Africa Summit
- Dates: Wednesday 21 October – Thursday 22 October 2026
- Venue: The Landmark, 222 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 6JQ, United Kingdom (also available virtually)
- Organiser: Financial Times, in partnership with Invest Africa
- Format: Two-day summit, in person and virtual
- Registration: Open now — save 20% with code INVESTAFRICA
Why TACR Readers Should Attend
For Investors & Fund Managers:
This is one of the largest concentrations of African-market capital allocators and DFIs on the calendar outside the continent itself. The finance and investment track remains the Summit’s anchor, and the room is dense with the LPs, DFIs and corporates already active in African deal flow.
For Corporates & Industrial Players:
The new industrialisation and infrastructure streams are the ones worth watching this year. If your business sits anywhere near manufacturing, logistics, power or digital infrastructure build-out, this is the first year the agenda is speaking directly to you rather than folding your sector into a broader “investment” conversation.
For Policymakers:
With former Heads of State and sitting ministers in the room, the Summit remains one of the more direct channels between African government priorities and the international capital and corporate audience deciding where to deploy.
Registration Information
- Register: Register here
- Discount: Save 20% off your pass using code INVESTAFRICA
- Details & Venue: investafrica.com
TACR View: The addition of industrialisation and infrastructure as their own tracks says more about where the money’s attention has moved than any single panel will. Worth watching whether the new streams get the same seniority in the room as the Summit’s traditional finance and energy sessions, or whether they’re this year’s add-on waiting to earn full billing next year.
See you in London.
