The 20th African Economic Conference brought together in Abidjan, from 10 to 12 July 2026, at the AfDB headquarters, economists and policy-makers from the continent. Central theme: 'Strengthening Africa's Geopolitical Action and Trade Resilience in a Multipolar World.'
Multipolarity: The Number One Strategic Challenge
Jointly organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the OECD, the conference highlighted the fragility of African economies in the face of global geopolitical shifts: supply chain fragmentation, trade wars, great-power competition. Africa must find its own path through global disorder.
Participants emphasised the need to remove barriers to intra-African trade, still limited to approximately 15% of the continent's total trade — compared to over 60% in Europe. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) remains the primary lever for reversing this trend.
The ACE Network: Analytical Sovereignty in Motion
The headline announcement of this edition is the launch of the African chief Economists Network (ACE Network) — a network of chief economists from African institutions. Objective: for Africa to no longer merely be analysed by external institutions, but to produce and disseminate its own economic expertise in global decision-making forums. A quiet but profound shift in the continent's economic governance.
According to the AfDB's African Economic Perspectives 2026, the continent is projected to record growth of 4.4% this year, driven by East and West Africa, despite global geopolitical headwinds.
Actionable Priorities for Decision-Makers
The conference identified several action areas: investing in entrepreneurship for youth and women, strengthening regional value chains in agri-food and critical minerals, and accelerating digital transformation in logistics and financial services.
Why It Matters
The Abidjan agenda — multipolarity, intra-African trade, analytical sovereignty — is precisely what every Indian Ocean business seeking to expand onto the continent must understand and integrate into its strategy. Africa is no longer looking for donors. It is looking for equal partners — and it is now equipping itself with the intellectual tools to act accordingly.