The African Development Bank Group held an inaugural Integrate Africa Forum during its 2026 Annual Meetings, convening heads of development partners, corporate leaders and other stakeholders, to accelerate intra-African co-financing, trade and policy harmonisation.
The forum took place on 28 May 2026 in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo under the theme ‘Made in Africa. Trade in Africa’.
Leaders representing the African Union Commission, and Regional Economic Communities attended, alongside government ministers and heads of the Trade and Development Bank Group, Afreximbank, African Trade and Investment Development Insurance and other DFIs.
The leaders welcomed the launch of the forum.
SADC Executive Secretary Elias Magosi said: “In the SADC region, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and minerals offer huge opportunities to leverage the AfCFTA.” Jaqueline Lydia Mikolo, Minister of Trade, Supply Chains, Consumption and AfCFTA of the Republic of Congo, highlighted her country’s efforts to industrialise, and invited strategic investment.
AfCFTA stands for the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, the world’s largest free trade area bringing together the 55 countries of the African Union (AU) and eight Regional Economic Communities. The overall mandate of the AfCFTA is to create a single continental market with a population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of approximately US$ 3.4 trillion.
ATIDI CEO Manuel Moses and Boitumelo Mosako, CEO, Development Bank of Southern Africa, also offered statements in support of boosting production in Africa.
Several entrepreneurs and business founders shared their experience. Nigeria’s Ibukun Awosika – CEO of The Chair Centre Group, discussed the challenges involved in building African brands. Women running export businesses under AfCFTA – Nevine Nakla, CEO of El Gondy Trading and The AfCFTA Trading Company (Egypt), and Awatif Baroud, founder of Beit Mama (Chad) – also shared their experiences of scaling production across borders on AfCFTA preferential terms.
Meanwhile, Gabby Otchere-Darko – founder and chairperson of Ghana-based Africa Prosperity Network (APN) – spoke about the #MakeAfricaBorderlessNow initiative – a campaign which is advocating for the Free Movement Protocol to come into force. His speech came only days after President of the Republic of Congo – Denis Sassou-N’Guesso – announced during the opening ceremony of the Annual Meetings, that Congo would grant visa free access to all Africans from 1 January 2027.
To measure freedom of movement across Africa, the Bank Group, in collaboration with the African Union Commission, produces the annual Africa Visa Openness Index, which assesses the extent to which each country in Africa, is open to visitors from other African countries.
During the forum, the Second Edition of Integrate Africa Magazine – The Trade Issue, was unveiled. The magazine is a strategic thought-leadership publication of the Bank Group that conveys its investments in regional integration, The issue, carried the same theme “Made in Africa. Trade in Africa,” as the forum.
In closing remarks, Dr Abdul Kamara, Bank Group Acting Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, said: “ Year after year, this Forum will record the progress of Africa’s integration journey – the corridors connected, the industries expanded, the jobs created, and the partnerships strengthened – as we count down to a more connected, more resilient, more industrial and more prosperous Africa.”