AFSIC 2026 Confirms First Speakers as London Forum Targets Africa Deal Flow

Africa-focused investment forum AFSIC – Investing in Africa has confirmed its first cohort of speakers for its 2026 conference, scheduled for 13–14 October at Park Plaza Westminster Bridge in London. The lineup signals continued institutional interest in African private markets at a moment when capital flows to the continent remain well below pre-pandemic peaks.

Who is Speaking, and Why Does the Lineup Matter?

AFSIC has not yet published the full speaker roster, but the organisers describe the initial wave as drawn from institutional investors, private equity firms, development finance institutions (DFIs), family offices, and African corporates. The sectors represented span financial services, infrastructure, energy, technology, agriculture, and sustainable development, a mix that tracks closely with where DFI capital has concentrated over the past three years.

The two-day programme will combine keynotes, sector panels, country investment summits, and structured pitching sessions. According to the organisers, thousands of investor-to-business meetings are coordinated each year through the African Investments Dashboard, the digital matchmaking platform operated by African Investments Limited alongside its Africa Business Opportunities Dashboard.

How Does AFSIC 2026 Fit Into the Africa Investment Landscape?

The conference arrives against a complicated backdrop for African capital markets. Foreign direct investment into Africa reached approximately $97 billion in 2024 according to the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2025, though that figure was inflated by a single large project in Egypt. Stripping that out, underlying FDI flows remained modest, with most sub-Saharan economies still contending with currency volatility, sovereign debt pressures, and a narrowing pool of risk-tolerant capital.

Private capital deal value on the continent fell to $5.5 billion in 2024 from $5.9 billion the previous year, according to the African Private Capital Association (AVCA), with deal volume also declining. Venture funding has compressed even more sharply, with Partech reporting that African startup funding dropped to roughly $3.2 billion in 2024, less than half the 2022 peak.

Against that backdrop, in-person convening platforms have taken on greater importance for closing the gap between available capital and bankable projects. AFSIC sits alongside the Africa CEO Forum and the US-Africa Business Summit as one of the established annual gatherings where deal pipelines are built.

What Will Investors Be Watching For?

Three themes are likely to dominate the agenda based on the sectors AFSIC has flagged.

The first is energy transition financing, where the International Energy Agency estimates Africa needs roughly $200 billion in annual clean energy investment by 2030 to meet its targets, against current flows of about $40 billion.

The second is local currency lending and blended finance structures, an area where DFIs including British International Investment, Proparco, and the International Finance Corporation have been expanding commitments.

The third is the build-out of digital and payments infrastructure, where intra-African transaction volumes continue to grow despite the broader fintech funding slowdown.

AFSIC has indicated that additional speakers will be announced ahead of the October event. Registration and the evolving speaker list are available at afsic.net.

Why This Matters to FinanceX Readers

For institutional allocators, DFIs, and family offices weighing African exposure, 2026 is shaping up as a recalibration year. Deal volumes have compressed, valuations have reset, and the funds that survived the 2022–2024 contraction are now deploying into a less crowded field. Convening platforms like AFSIC are where pipeline gets built between cycles. The composition of the speaker list, particularly the balance between DFI and commercial capital, will be a useful read on where the continent's deal flow is heading over the next 18 months.