AFRICA CAPITAL WEEK ADOPTS A CONTINENTAL CAPITAL COMMITMENT
The inaugural Africa Capital Week 2026 forum, which was opened on Monday by H.E. Dr. Musalia Mudavadi, the Prime Cabinet Secretary of Kenya and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, concluded in Nairobi, with over 500 delegates from 16 African countries and beyond with the adoption of the Nairobi Declaration for Deepening Africa’s Capital Markets, to accelerate cross border investment and strengthen the continent’s capacity to mobilize and deploy capital for its own development priorities.
The Declaration moves the continental capital markets agenda from principle to structure. It calls for the formation of an African Securities Regulators Association to sustain discussion of cross cutting regulatory issues and to harmonise rules that currently slow the movement of capital between African markets. It commits securities exchanges to accelerate interconnection through the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) by leveraging technology, and market intermediaries to expand intra Africa securities trading through the Africa Stockbrokers and Securities Dealers Association (ASSDA).
Delegates further committed to channel a greater share of Africa’s growing pension savings into continental infrastructure through the accelerated formation of a Pan African Infrastructure Fund, and to engage the African Union Commission on positioning capital markets as a central enabler of Agenda 2063. The Declaration directs stakeholders to identify and finance the opportunities created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), including regional value chains and intra African trade, and to press for the removal of unnecessary regulatory, tax, foreign exchange, settlement and administrative barriers to capital movement, while maintaining safeguards for financial stability and investor protection.
The forum showcased 20 investment ready projects across energy, food security, transport, trade, technology, social infrastructure, minerals and private sector development, with sessions examining how each could be financed through debt, equity, blended finance, guarantees and public private partnerships. Those conversations continue from 9 to 11 September 2026, when delegations make guided visits to Kenya Vision 2030 flagship projects and private sector investment sites, meeting project sponsors directly to test project readiness, financing requirements, risk allocation and investment structures
The Declaration was read and presented to delegates before Dr Bonface Makokha, Principal Secretary, State Department for Economic Planning, formally closed the forum. He was joined at the closing ceremony by Hon. Susan Auma Mang’eni, Principal Secretary, State Department for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development.
“A development priority is not automatically an investible asset. We must convert our plans into credible projects, our projects into bankable assets, and our investments into measurable improvements in productivity, employment and household welfare. Government cannot finance everything. But Government can make much more of Africa financeable,” said Dr Makokha. “Our success will not be measured by the declarations we make, but by capital mobilised, enterprises financed, projects delivered, markets deepened and jobs created. That is why our commitment to review progress every six months matters.”
“The goal of Africa Capital Week is to establish the architecture that brings together Africa’s capital, institutions, and investment opportunities at scale, fostering the confidence and collaboration required to support Africa’s development priorities. The success of this forum will be measured not by the conversations we had in Nairobi, but by the partnerships created, the resources mobilised, and the projects that have progressed since then,” said Dr Emmanuel K Nzai, Chairman, Vision 2030 Delivery Board and the Africa Capital Week 2026 Organising Committee.
Africa Capital Week has been established as an annual continental platform, hosted on a rotational basis across Africa. The second edition will be held in Lagos, Nigeria, from 6 to 10 September 2027, which delegates framed as the accountability moment for the commitments made in Nairobi.