The third Africa Impact Summit (AIS), set for June 11–13 in Accra, Ghana, will bring together influential leaders including Chichi Aniagolu-Okoye, West Africa Regional Director of the Ford Foundation, and the President and CEO of the ONE Campaign to drive transformative investment strategies across Africa.
Hosted by the Africa Impact Investment Group (AIIG), the summit focuses on bridging Africa’s vast development financing gap by fostering collaboration among policymakers, private investors, and social entrepreneurs. The 2025 edition, themed “Transforming Systems: Redefining Impact for Real Change in Africa,” aims to unlock long-term capital flows—especially from pension funds and impact investors—targeted at sustainable infrastructure, SMEs, and climate-resilient sectors.
With foreign direct investment into Africa declining from 4.4% of global FDI in 2022 to 3.5% in 2023, according to UNCTAD, the summit comes at a crucial time for strengthening domestic resource mobilization and attracting innovative blended finance solutions.
“Africa’s future hinges on strong partnerships across governments, investors, and social enterprises,” said Etemore Glover, CEO of Nigeria’s Impact Investors Foundation. “This summit offers a critical platform for shaping impactful and sustainable development pathways.”
Over 500 delegates are expected, with a pre-summit study tour in Nigeria planned for June 9–10. The program will feature curated deal rooms, policy discussions, and case studies highlighting scalable impact ventures in sectors such as health, education, agriculture, and energy.
Key confirmed speakers include Elizabeth Boggs Davidsen, CEO of GSG Impact, and Ibukun Awosika, Vice Chair of GSG and former Chair of First Bank of Nigeria.
Amma Lartey, CEO of Impact Investing Ghana, emphasized the urgency of action: “We must shift from proposing solutions to delivering measurable impact. This summit will catalyze local pension fund mobilization, empower SMEs, and build the systems needed to achieve Africa’s Sustainable Development Goals.”
With an estimated annual SDG funding shortfall exceeding $200 billion, per the African Development Bank, AIIG is committed to fostering cross-border investment and policy alignment across 20+ African countries.
Previous summits in Cape Town (2023) and Nairobi (2024) have already yielded significant SME financing deals and public-private collaborations, setting a promising precedent for this year’s event.
