According to Africa CEO Forum, Kigali will host the most prominent gathering of African private sector leaders of the year, with May 14 and 15 confirmed in the Rwandan capital, as Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and industrialist Aliko Dangote headline a delegation that underscores West Africa’s growing weight in continental economic diplomacy.

The forum will convene more than 2,000 chief executives, investors, heads of state, and public decision-makers from over 75 countries, organized under the theme “The Scale Imperative: Why Africa Must Embrace Shared Ownership.”

The organizers have framed the central message as “scale or fail,” calling on African governments and businesses to commit capital, share risk, and build transnational ownership structures to secure long-term prosperity.

The 2026 edition is organized by Jeune Afrique Media Group and co-hosted by the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, and comes at a time of global economic realignment with shifting capital flows and increasing competition among emerging economies.

The return to Kigali, last hosted there in 2019 was confirmed following a high-level meeting between President Paul Kagame and Amir Ben Yahmed, Chief Executive Officer of Jeune Afrique Media Group, and reflects Rwanda’s reputation as a leader in innovation, governance, and business-friendly reform.

President Tinubu is expected among the high-profile public figures attending, alongside Nigeria’s Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate. The Nigerian private sector delegation includes Aliko Dangote, Wale Tinubu, Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, and several other prominent business leaders and investors.

The strong Nigerian presence is being read by analysts as a signal of Abuja’s intent to assert a more active role in shaping the continent’s economic architecture, a shift that Kigali is well-placed to facilitate given Rwanda’s established track record as a neutral convening ground for African business and policy dialogue.

For Rwanda, hosting the forum carries strategic value beyond prestige. The summit creates a concentrated moment for inward investment conversations at the government level, with President Kagame expected to participate alongside visiting heads of state.

The outcomes of the two-day gathering particularly any commitments around cross-border investment and private sector ownership frameworks will be watched closely by development finance institutions and foreign missions in Kigali.