The Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI) was set up five years ago to put Africans and African interests at the heart of all discussions about the continent. The take-up has been remarkable.
F ive years ago, the Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI) set out to change the narrative about Africa. For decades, discussions on building Africa’s businesses and economies have not always had business leaders, governments, policymakers, and investors at the same table. Foreign investors and policymakers spoke about the continent, often without those driving economic growth and job creation being present.
GABI, and its flagship convening initiative Unstoppable Africa , was created to change that. The idea was simple: put Africa and the world’s business leaders, heads of state, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and development financiers around the same table and in the same discussions and dialogues, and let the agenda be set by what Africa is building, not by what the rest of the world assumes it needs.
The name Unstoppable Africa was deliberately chosen to match the scale of momentum already visible across the continent’s economies: the businesses, entrepreneurs, and its young, dynamic population.
Five years on, that vision has proven unstoppable. The figures speak volumes. Unstoppable Africa has convened more than 6,000 participants, 106 speakers, and nearly 1,000 companies across 17 sessions spanning energy, finance, trade, health, digital, and sports. Supported by 18 funding partners and more than a dozen media partners, it has amplified Africa’s economic narrative worldwide.
A milestone was the inaugural African Union–United Nations Top Table, co-chaired by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and AU Commission Chairperson H.E. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, with leaders from 16 countries committing to the SDGs and Agenda 2063.
Last year at Unstoppable Africa , several major announcements and initiatives were made under key themes. In energy, Mission300 mobilised more than $50bn in affordable finance to expand electricity access, with 32 countries preparing to sign agreements.
Under digital transformation, Cassava Technologies Founder and Executive Chairman Strive Masiyiwa announced a $720m partnership with Nvidia to build Africa’s first network of AI factories. This is a significant investment demonstrating African-led innovation and infrastructure.
Trade was also spotlighted through Angola’s President João Lourenço’s Lobito Corridor, a major transcontinental trade and logistics project, designed to link the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and attract private investment into production and exports.
Sports brought strong social and economic commitments. WNBA All-Star Chiney Ogwumike launched her foundation to create opportunities for women and girls. NBA Africa also selected Festival Coins through its Startup Accelerator, which offers mentorship and funding to strengthen Africa’s sports and startup ecosystem.
The shift from conversation to delivery is most visible in GABI’s Action Pathways. Launched at Unstoppable Africa last year, the Digital Transformation and Health Action Pathways have been designed to coordinate action and partnerships for delivery, turning commitments made on stage toward implementation.
In May this year, this initiative took a further step. On the sidelines of the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, the GABI Solutions Lab brought African business leaders, investors, and government officials together to work through the conditions that make a project bankable, using digital tools as the test case for a much bigger question: how to bring private capital into infrastructure that serves the public interest on a large scale.
New era of sovereignty
The global landscape has evolved alongside GABI’s development, but Africa’s positioning has changed even more. Despite some credit rating agencies still classifying Africa as ‘high risk’, it is no longer universally dismissed as ‘perpetually emerging’.
The continent is now asserting its sovereignty by taking control of its own narrative, its priorities, and its partnerships. Africa’s strategic advantages lie in its young population, its vital mineral resources, which are needed for the global energy transition, and its entrepreneurial spirit, which is encouraging innovation in the fields of fintech, agritech, and the creative industries.
None of this eliminates the challenges that the continent is currently facing. Trade preferences have expired, tariffs have become more unpredictable, and aid and health assistance have been reduced, leaving countries that had integrated these flows into their systems exposed to greater uncertainty.
At the same time, similar disruptions are affecting the rest of the world. Supply chains are moving back to domestic locations, concerns about mineral security are increasing, and the conflict in the Middle East is disrupting global energy flows and shipping routes.
Nevertheless, these disruptions have also created new opportunities for Africa. For instance, refiners and exporters such as Nigeria are now entering markets that had previously been dependent on supplies from the Gulf and Europe. This is a moment of advantage.
Turning Africa’s moment of leverage into long-term progress will require building on the foundation of collaboration that already exists. The private sector, working alongside governments and multilateral institutions, must now play an even more prominent role in ensuring that Africa’s leverage is fully realised in ways that reinforce sovereignty and deliver long-term value.
It is still crucial to have sound policies, stable regulatory conditions, regional coherence, and the creation of frameworks that protect African sovereignty. The strength of GABI lies in the fact that it recognises the role of both the public and private sectors, bringing together role players to explore and discuss mutual priorities and opportunities.
Maintaining momentum
Five years is worth pausing to acknowledge and celebrate. But sustaining momentum is harder than sparking it.
This year’s theme, “Powering Business, Scaling Economies, Shaping the Future”, captures what the next phase must demand of us: amplifying Africa’s business leadership and spotlighting trade and investment opportunities with measurable follow-through.
The way forward is clear. The African Continental Free Trade Area will achieve its full potential when intra-African trade is supported by harmonised standards and adequate infrastructure.
Access to energy is essential but must remain sustainable. The creative industries and sports are significant revenue-generators and are becoming more and more important as agents of global influence.
Above all, it is a matter of discipline to achieve the transition from promise to delivery. This means turning agreements into factories, converting policy commitments into regulatory action, and transforming panel discussions into lasting partnerships grounded in African sovereignty.
It is only by doing so that the continent’s unstoppable journey can be realised. Over the next five years, we need to move from promise to delivery, from commitment to real impact, and from aspiration to action . n
Sanda Ojiambo is Assistant Secretary-General and CEO of the United Nations Global Compact.
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Unstoppable Africa moving from premise to delivery
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