The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), in partnership with the Government of Kenya, is set to host the inaugural Africa We Build Summit in Nairobi from April 23 to 24, 2026, marking the first time the continent’s most influential infrastructure financiers, investors and policymakers gather under a unified mandate to unlock domestic capital for large-scale development.
Under the theme “Infrastructure as the Engine of Industrialisation,” the summit marks a shift in Africa’s development approach, away from fragmented projects toward integrated systems that support industrial growth and job creation.
The event will be headlined by William Samoei Ruto, whose keynote address is expected to underscore high-level political commitment to regional integration and industrial expansion across East Africa and beyond.
Discussions will focus on a fundamental reframing of Africa’s financing challenge. Rather than a lack of capital, stakeholders are increasingly focused on unlocking and redirecting domestic capital pools into viable, bankable infrastructure projects.
“Africa is not capital-poor; it is capital-trapped. The opportunity now is to channel that capital into infrastructure and industry at scale—transforming resources into productivity, jobs, and long-term prosperity,” said Samaila Zubairu ahead of the summit.
The summit will emphasise structuring investable pipelines and aligning policy frameworks with capital flows, positioning infrastructure not merely as a public good, but as a commercially viable asset class.
A key focus will be the development of regional infrastructure corridors; linking transport, energy, and industrial processing into cohesive economic systems. Projects such as the Lobito Corridor and emerging national financing vehicles like the Kenya National Infrastructure Fund are expected to feature prominently as case studies in execution-driven partnerships.
Within East Africa, attention will center on the Northern Corridor, a critical trade artery connecting the Port of Mombasa to landlocked markets including Uganda, Rwanda, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan. Planned upgrades in road and rail infrastructure, alongside an East African Railway Master Plan, are expected to dominate discussions on regional connectivity.
Beyond transport, the summit will tackle the nexus between energy infrastructure and Africa’s vast mineral resources. A central theme will be shifting from raw extraction to value-added processing.
Underpinning the summit is the launch of the State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2026, positioned as the most comprehensive assessment of the continent’s infrastructure investment landscape to date. The report will map capital flows, identify financing gaps, and outline priority project pipelines, serving as a blueprint for investors and policymakers alike.
The souls of our ancestors will now rest in peace!