By Etienne Mainimo Mengnjo
Africa’s leading infrastructure financiers, fund managers and industry leaders will gather in Nairobi next month with a mandate to unlock domestic capital and transform the continent’s industrial ambitions into a job-creating reality.
Hosted by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) in partnership with the Government of Kenya, the inaugural “Africa We Build Summit” is scheduled for April 23-24, 2026. Under the theme “Infrastructure as the Engine of Industrialisation,” the event aims to bring together decision-makers to originate bankable projects, strengthen regional integration and accelerate continental development.
Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto is expected to deliver the keynote address, signaling high-level political commitment to large-scale industrialization. The summit marks a strategic shift from isolated, standalone projects toward integrated infrastructure systems, including regional corridor investments, expanded rail and port networks, and cross-border energy systems.
A primary objective of the gathering is to mobilize a larger portion of Africa’s domestic capital base toward globally competitive industrial opportunities. To support this, organizers will launch the “State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2026,” a comprehensive analysis of the continental investment landscape, capital flows and project pipelines.
“Africa is not capital-poor; it is capital-trapped,” said Samaila Zubairu, President and CEO of AFC. “The opportunity now is to channel that capital into infrastructure and industry at scale—transforming resources into productivity, jobs, and long-term prosperity.”
The summit is designed as a delivery platform centered on execution-focused partnerships. Recent initiatives like the Lobito Corridor and the Kenya National Infrastructure Fund serve as models for how aligned policy and capital can create integrated economic ecosystems that connect raw resources to energy, logistics and processing.
Given the East African Community’s status as a dynamic regional bloc, the summit will specifically spotlight priority routes such as the Northern Corridor. This vital artery links the Port of Mombasa to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. Discussions will also focus on advancing the East African Railway Master Plan and upgrading key cross-border highways.
Beyond physical transport, a central theme of the summit involves linking power and minerals. Leaders intend to emphasize value addition over simple extraction, ensuring that infrastructure investments provide the foundation for long-term economic transformation across the continent.
