Addis Ababa, The Economic Commission for Africa will host the inaugural Africa Development Impact Forum (ADIF) from 11 to 12 June in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, which is curated as a solutions-oriented platform focused on turning evidence into action to address one of Africa’s most urgent development challenges: creating jobs at scale.
Organized under the theme “Best Practices & Innovation for Job Creation in Africa,” the Forum will bring together policymakers, development partners, private sector leaders, researchers, innovators and young entrepreneurs to move beyond dialogue and accelerate practical, evidence-based solutions for job creation across the continent.
Africa has no shortage of policies, strategies, research, and pilot programmes. Yet implementation often remains fragmented, under-resourced and slow. ADIF 2026 is designed as a response to this implementation gap, creating a space where evidence, policy and practice can converge around what works, what can be scaled, and what can deliver measurable impact.
The Forum will focus on bridging the gap between policy ambition and real-world outcomes by identifying practical solutions, scalable models and partnerships that can support inclusive job creation. It will also provide a platform for co-designing approaches that respond to Africa’s employment realities, particularly the aspirations and potential of young people.
“ADIF 2026 is not simply another event. ECA has held several pre-forum sessions known as stock-takes, where stakeholders have dived deep into the evidence for the urgency of moving from policy to impact, and from evidence to implementation,” says Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director of ECA's Dakar-based training arm, IDEP. “The goal is to help scale solutions that are already showing promise and ensure they translate into jobs, livelihoods and opportunity.”
The pre-ADIF suite of stocktakes have been examining key drivers of Africa’s future job landscape, including critical green minerals, artificial intelligence and jobs, and high-growth youth entrepreneurship.
"These conversations are shaping the ADIF agenda to ensure the Forum agenda, discussions and conclusions are grounded in evidence, implementation experience and the perspectives of those working to create jobs on the ground," adds Ms. Ben Soltane.
ADIF 2026 will emphasize five priorities: implementation, jobs and youth opportunity, evidence and innovation, partnerships, and accountability. The Forum is structured not as a one-off event, but as a process, linking pre-Forum evidence generation, co-design during the Forum, and post-Forum follow-up to support implementation.
Participants will explore how Africa can turn its green transition into a jobs transition, shape emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence to expand opportunity, and support young Africans not only as job seekers, but as job creators. ADIF will close with a special session on the Creative Sector, bringing musicians and entrepreneurs around the challenges, opportunities shaping the sector.
By focusing on what works and how to scale it, ADIF 2026 aims to contribute to a stronger implementation culture across Africa’s development landscape, where policies are measured not only by their ambition, but by their ability to deliver tangible results.
Registration for ADIF 2026 is now open.
Register here: https://indico.un.org/event/1019394/registrations/26415/
More about ADIF: https://www.africadevelopmentimpactforum.org/event/adif-2026
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org