Unstoppable Africa: A continent of ambition and action
Read more
Sanda Ojiambo, CEO & Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, reflects on the Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI) and Unstoppable Africa events, convened on the margins of the High-level week of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
Africa is increasingly central to global growth, trade and investment. Five years ago, the United Nations Global Compact's Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI) and Unstoppable Africa set out to shift the global narrative, moving the focus from Africa's potential to commercial execution: investment, value creation, and scalable businesses.
Three fundamentals underpin this opportunity:
➡️ Demographics: By 2050, one in four people globally will be African, creating a significant workforce, consumer market and talent base.
➡️ Strategic resources: Africa's critical minerals and renewable-energy potential are essential to global energy and technology transitions. The opportunity is to process more resources locally and retain greater value on the continent.
➡️ Market integration: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provides a framework for deeper regional trade, integrated value chains and businesses that can scale across borders.
On 20-21 September, Unstoppable Africa 2026 brought business leaders, policymakers, investors and partners together around a clear imperative: move from dialogue to delivery. The agenda centred on energy access, digital transformation, trade, the creative economy and sport.
Five business priorities emerged here:
Mobilize domestic capital. Deepen regional capital markets and financing capacity to fund African businesses and infrastructure while addressing perceived risk and lending biases.
Increase local value addition. Shift from exporting raw commodities toward local processing and production across sectors, creating jobs and retaining more economic value in African markets.
Scale energy infrastructure. Accelerate investment in generation, grids and last-mile access, using public-private and blended-finance models to expand reliable, affordable energy.
Strengthen digital infrastructure. Expand cross-border payments, data infrastructure and local talent to enable fintech, AI and digital commerce while strengthening Africa's digital sovereignty.
Invest in the creative economy. Treat fashion, film, food, arts, music and sport as scalable economic sectors, supported by stronger business structures, intellectual-property protection and dedicated investment.
The opportunity is clear. Africa has the markets, resources, talent and entrepreneurial capacity to play a larger role in the global economy. The priority now is execution: mobilizing capital, building infrastructure, strengthening regional markets and scaling African businesses.
Unstoppable Africa provides a platform to convene partners, catalyze investment and turn ambition into measurable outcomes.
For the next 12 months, catch GABI on the continent where business and policymakers will gather, at the African Union and at the Africa CEO Forum. We look forward to progressing tangible outcomes through the Digital and Health Action Pathways and continuing to shape the #UnstoppableAfrica narrative.
