Independence: The Auda-Nepad steering committee, which met in May 2026, affirmed the principle that Africa must accelerate transformation and self-reliance. Photo: Auda-Nepad
Africa’s development cannot be willed into existence by any single actor. Not by governments alone, not by markets alone and not by donors alone.
That was the founding insight of the African leadership that gave us the New Partnership for Africa’s Development in 2001. It remains the operative principle as Nepad marks 25 years in 2026.
The Thabo Mbeki Foundation’s High-Level Business Breakfast on Thursday, 21 May 2026, was a working conversation about the partnerships the next phase of African renewal will require: between African states, between African and global actors and between state and non-state institutions on the continent.
The African renaissance cannot be financed by sentiment and it cannot be delivered by governments working in isolation.
