The Future Africa Forum 2026 brings together policymakers, investors, business leaders, cultural practitioners and diaspora stakeholders to explore practical ways to deepen trade, investment and institutional engagement across Global Africa. The Forum is intended to move Africa–diaspora engagement beyond goodwill and cultural affinity towards stronger commercial relationships, cross-sector partnerships and more structured pathways for economic participation.

The forum also provides a platform to surface and address persistent barriers to diaspora trade and investment, including access to finance, market information, logistics, regulation and other constraints identified through the Diaspora Study. As a flagship convening of the Global Africa Gateway, the Forum brings the Gateway’s wider mission to life by convening credible stakeholders, strengthening connections across sectors and creating pathways for continued engagement beyond the event itself.

The Future Africa Forum is a flagship convening of the Global Africa Gateway, providing an in-person platform to bring together many of the stakeholders, ideas and opportunities that the Gateway is designed to connect. It serves as one important moment within the Gateway’s wider journey, creating space for dialogue, relationship-building and practical exchange around trade, investment and collaboration across Global Africa.

The Future Africa Forum is therefore an expression of the Gateway’s mission, rather than the Gateway itself. The relationships, insights and opportunities surfaced through the Forum are intended to contribute to continued engagement through the Global Africa Gateway beyond the event.

The Global Africa Gateway creates trusted, structured pathways for Africa’s global diaspora to engage with people, institutions and opportunities across Africa and Global Africa. An initiative of The Africa Center established in partnership with Afreximbank, the Gateway brings together institutional credibility, diaspora connection, and economic expertise to help investors, entrepreneurs, professionals, partners, and students engage more purposefully and navigate relevant opportunities for participation in Africa’s future.