In a world of thinner aid flows, shakier multilateralism, and fiercer competition for capital, Africa’s old handicap- fragmentation- looks more costly than ever.
At the recently concluded Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, the consensus was clear: for Africa to scale, it must embrace shared ownership. The talk must shift to shared equity, shared infrastructure and shared rules – less national champions than continental ones. The idea is that Africa’s capital should be used to back African expansion more readily, and that regional projects should be built for cross-border use, and that a common system-legal, financial, and digital- should make all this easier.
The numbers tell the story. Africa’s combined GDP is roughly US$3 trillion, but split across 54 markets, no single country commands the heft to compete with blocs like the EU or ASEAN. Shared corridors of value- from energy to digital trade – could unlock additional US$3-4 trillion by 2035, according to PwC. That grand revelation gave the forum its shape.
Source: International Monetary Fund (October 2025 World Economic Outlook)
For investors, the implication is profound: capital will increasingly favour integrated markets, regional champions, and cross-border platforms.
