Everyone likes a call to action. The theme of this year’s Africa CEO Forum struck a chord as it suggests urgency. We have done decades of talking, let’s get on with it.
It was given heft by where the conference was held. Kigali is an incredibly impressive city and I am blown away by the levels of activity every time I visit. We spent a day filming at the city’s Golf Course with three people I knew would have powerful insights to share – Hortense Mudenge, CEO of Kigali IFC; Kinapaly Coulibaly, Managing Director of BNETD and Diane Karusisi, CEO of Bank of Kigali. Over the next few months, I will be sharing these interviews and they are a must-watch as these are the people scaling in Africa – and they’ll share how.
Gateway to Africa
From where we sat, we could see new developments beyond the greens – one will be a hospital and others mixed spaces for work and living. From the moment the country decided to move from a largely agriculture-driven economy to one built around knowledge services, the growth has been steady. As the sun went down, I could see golfers but also delegates for a Rwandan/ E.U. summit talking on the deck. People are calling Rwanda the gateway to Africa – this is why.
From the moment the country decided to move from a largely agriculture-driven economy to one built around knowledge services, the growth has been steady.
A day later and it was another country in the spotlight – Cote d’Ivoire. Following many months of collaboration, we brought together Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement, BNETD-Bureau National d’Études Techniques et de Développement, and the Government of Côte d’Ivoire around a shared ambition: accelerating the delivery of BOAD’s Djoliba Strategic Plan.
Institutions and Infrastructure
At the heart of the agreement is the positioning of BNETD as the technical delivery arm supporting the execution of the plan’s infrastructure ambitions – a 1,709.35 billion FCFA investment programme aimed at shaping the next generation of infrastructure across the continent.
What both this deal and what I saw in Rwanda share is an intense focus on sustainability and resilience. In Rwanda, this is being driven, as the IMF noted in December (PDF), by creating institutional frameworks honing in on gender equality and climate integration – two of the country’s biggest concerns. Institutions – or institutional change in this case – are one of the four pillars of economic transformation.
“Infrastructure is the starting point for any development.”
The BNETD launch focused on another – Infrastructure. As HE Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye, the Rwandan Minister of State for Infrastructure, said at the event at ACF2026: “Infrastructure is the starting point for any development.” He added: “We talk about it as politicians for ages, which is always disappointing for citizens.” Instead, he argued, leaders need to start any conversation about transformation with the impact it will have – and be able to back this up. Not only does this turn attitudes from apathy to excitement, but it provides the impetus for change. Three words sum this up – agility, trust and impact.
From strategy to reality
Coulibaly shared the magic formula for making sure that infrastructure projects go from blueprint to reality: they must be cross-domain/ cross-ministry; they should be built using strategic partnerships; and then driven by permanent, multi-disciplinary teams.
“We have everything lined up. We now just need to deliver it for our people.”
This means, in practice, bringing multiple experts together but all with a shared vision. This is what I have been writing about for years – create a compelling narrative, sharing it with honesty and integrity; and bringing your people along with you. This is how complex change happens; and is sustained.
We can keep on talking about Africa’s infrastructure funding gap forever, or, as de Dieu stated, we can mobilise Africa’s resources now. As he said: “We have everything lined up. We now just need to deliver it for our people.”
