By David Olujinmi

Copyright businessday

The African Union has praised the Forward Africa Leaders Symposium (FALS) for spotlighting the continent’s digital transformation at a critical moment. It warned that failure to harmonise policies and scale investment could stall Africa’s bid to compete in the global digital economy.

Held at the Nasdaq MarketSite in New York during the UN General Assembly, the gathering drew senior policymakers, financiers, and entrepreneurs. And the theme was “Advancing Africa’s Digital Transformation: Inspiring Action, Accelerating Growth, Accelerating Impact”.

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Discussions ranged from data sovereignty and cybersecurity to artificial intelligence and the role of public-private partnerships.

Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Selma Malika Haddadi, framed the conversation starkly: Africa, she said, stands at the crossroads of its digital destiny. The AU’s Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa (2020–2030) aims to build a continental digital single market by 2030, but fragmentation in national frameworks remains a major obstacle.

“Fragmented policies create barriers instead of bridges,” Haddadi said. “We are building a foundational architecture to harmonise our approach, because without predictability and standardisation, Africa cannot scale seamlessly across borders.”

For symposium founder Hannah Awuku, the initiative is not just another conference. “Forward Africa is a movement,” she said. “Our goal is to mobilise capital, foster cross-border collaborations, and showcase homegrown solutions driving growth from Lagos to Nairobi, Accra to Cape Town.” With Africa’s digital economy projected to contribute over 5% to GDP by the end of 2025, Awuku argued that the window to act is narrowing fast.

Capital, infrastructure, and scale

Finance leaders at the symposium stressed that money and execution capacity remain the real tests. Samaila Zubairu, President and CEO of the Africa Finance Corporation, said Africa’s digital economy is not optional but “the backbone that will allow our entrepreneurs to innovate, our businesses to compete, and our young people to create the jobs of tomorrow.”

He pointed to AFC’s backing of MainOne, the West African broadband pioneer later acquired by global infrastructure giant Equinix. “MainOne proves that Africa can build assets of world-class standard that attract global capital,” Zubairu said. “The challenge now is to scale them across the continent. With the right governance and the right capital, Africa can leapfrog into the digital future.”

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Private sector at the centre

Alex Apau Dadey, Executive Chairman of Ghana’s KGL Group and former head of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, argued that governments must recognise the private sector as the true engine of wealth creation.

“Governments on their own cannot drive transformation, but sadly, private enterprises that do are most often treated as afterthoughts in national strategies,” he said. “The challenge before us is not whether change is possible, but how quickly and inclusively we can harness it.”

Drawing from decades of experience across continents, Dadey emphasised that genuine, strategic public-private partnerships will determine whether Africa can build competitive digital economies.

Artificial intelligence and governance
The conversation also touched on frontier technologies. Marie-Antoinette Rose-Quatre, CEO of the African Peer Review Mechanism, highlighted how AI is reshaping governance globally, citing Albania’s recent experiment with appointing an AI device to oversee procurement.

“For Africa, this is a reminder that frontier technologies can leapfrog bureaucracy and drive new forms of integrity,” she said.

A continental moment

As participants wrapped up, a consensus emerged: Africa’s digital revolution will not be driven by declarations alone, but by aligning policy with capital, ensuring infrastructure keeps pace, and placing private innovators at the heart of strategy.

The second edition of the Forward Africa Leaders Symposium was organised in partnership with the African Peer Review Mechanism and supported by the KGL Foundation, GSMA, Africa Business Council, and other partners.