Addis Ababa, 19 February 2026 (ECA) – The Africa Business Forum 2026 concluded in Addis Ababa, Tuesday with a strong call for long-term, risk-tolerant investment to unlock Africa’s innovation potential and power inclusive, job-rich growth across the continent. Organised by the Economic Commission for Africa on the margins of the African Union Summit, the Forum launched a Jobs Wall Commitment Tracker to capture, showcase, and track public and private sector job commitments.
Held under the theme, “Financing the Future of Africa: Jobs and Innovation for Sustainable Transformation,” the Forum convened Heads of State, business and creative sector leaders, policymakers, and development financiers to forge new pathways for sustainable industrialization and market integration.
Participants agreed that Africa’s demographic surge is a strategic economic opportunity that requires decisive investment in research, innovation, and entrepreneurial ecosystems—anchored in risk-tolerant, growth-oriented capital rather than aid.
The Forum stressed that structural transformation must be driven by an integrated regional value chain and the full realization of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This entails harmonized regulations, lower capital costs, and cross-border enterprise growth to drive sustainable job creation.
Leaders from across the public and private sectors also called for a shift in development finance toward ecosystem-based investment models linking infrastructure, industrial value chains, digital markets, and green energy systems to durable employment outcomes. They reaffirmed that women’s economic participation must be institutionalized as a central pillar of this transformation, not treated as an add-on.
Ethiopia’s President Taye Atske Selassie highlighted the country’s experience in creating jobs for youth through startups and innovation, urging action on agriculture transformation, youth and women-led startups and the need to fast-track AfCFTA integration to advance sustainable development. He underscored that Africa’s transformation is not an abstract idea or distant ambition; it must be visible in factories that hire, farms that add value, digital platforms that reach markets and creative industries that turn youth talent into human capital.
Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Salah Ahmed Jama, highlighted his country’s transformational multi-pronged efforts underway, including a national ID system, holistic policies linked to education and industrial policy, market demands to create jobs from livestock and fisheries value chains that contribute 7 per cent to the country's economy, underpinned, he noted, by a silencing the guns agenda.
ECA Executive Secretary, Claver Gatete, noted that as global capital becomes more selective and concentrated, scale, security and future markets are assured. “The question is not whether capital exists,” he stressed. “The real question is: where will the next engines of global growth emerge?”
He argued that with the world’s youngest workforce, accelerating urbanization, rapid digital adoption and expanding consumer markets, the Continent is already undergoing a structural transformation anchored in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which is creating a single market of over 1.5 billion people. Furthermore, from youth-led cocoa processing in Côte d’Ivoire, an integrated automotive value chain in Morocco, to Ethiopia’s expanding digital payments ecosystem, as evidence that Africa is beginning to export value, not just raw commodities.
Key Recommendations
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Reshape Africa’s risk narrative and unlock affordable long-term capital by mobilizing domestic resources and launching de-risking facilities to attract investment into SMEs and productive sectors.
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Anchor financing on value addition and industrial processing, using standardized public–private partnership frameworks to lower capital costs and draw large-scale investors.
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Shift development finance toward ecosystem-based transformation, integrating value chains, digital markets, and Special Economic Zones as growth anchors.
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Leverage digital technology and Artificial Intelligence to strengthen education systems, improve data governance, and guide evidence-based investment.
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Align universities, skills systems, and entrepreneurship ecosystems with market needs to accelerate innovation and enterprise growth.
The Forum concluded that Africa’s transformation depends on financing its own future—investing in people, ideas, and innovation to drive sustainable growth. Building partnerships with Africa, not merely in Africa, will be key to ensuring that capital flows align with the continent’s priorities and potential.
Convened annually by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in partnership with key stakeholders including the African Union Commission, the Africa Business Forum (ABF) is held on the sidelines of the African Union Summit as a premier platform for high-level engagement among African Heads of State and Government, private sector leaders, development finance institutions, and international partners.
About the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
Established by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN) in 1958 as one of the UN’s five regional commissions, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA’s) mandate is to promote the economic and social development of its Member States, foster intraregional integration and promote international cooperation for Africa’s development. ECA is made up of 54 Member States and plays a dual role as a regional arm of the UN and as a key component of the African institutional landscape.
For more information, please visit: www.uneca.org
About the Africa Business Forum: https://www.uneca.org/eca-events/africa-business-forum-2026
Issued by:
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Economic Commission for Africa
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Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
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E-mail: eca-info@un.org