The 9th Africa Business Forum, organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, opened in Addis Ababa on Monday. Leaders and entrepreneurs gathered under the theme 'Financing Africa’s Future' amid global economic challenges. Executive Secretary Claver Gatete highlighted Africa's potential as a growth engine through productive employment for its young workforce.
The forum took place in Africa Hall, bringing together heads of state, industry leaders, and young entrepreneurs from across the continent. Discussions occurred against a backdrop of slowing global growth, climate shocks, rising debt, and shifting supply chains.
Claver Gatete, the Executive Secretary, emphasized the availability of global capital but questioned its direction. “The question is not whether capital exists,” he stressed. “The real question is: where will the next engines of global growth emerge?”
Gatete pointed to Africa's strengths, including the world's youngest workforce, accelerating urbanization, rapid digital adoption, and expanding consumer markets. He noted the continent's structural transformation, anchored in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which creates a single market for over 1.5 billion people.
Examples of progress include youth-led cocoa processing in Côte d’Ivoire, an integrated automotive value chain in Morocco, and Ethiopia’s expanding digital payments ecosystem. These developments show Africa exporting value-added products rather than just raw commodities, according to the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
Gatete also stated that millions of young Africans enter the labor market each year, and productive employment could position the continent as the growth frontier of the century.
