Leaders and Visionaries Gather in New York for Future Africa Forum 2025
The Africa Center and Afreximbank Global Africa Gateway Present Future Africa Forum 2025
A Global Convening of Policymakers, Leaders, Creatives, and Visionaries Committed to Building a Stronger, More Prosperous African Continent
2025 Theme: From Heritage to Prosperity: Leveraging the Cultural, Policy, and Investment Roots of Global Africa
Wednesday, September 24, 2025, from 2pm - 10pm EST at The Africa Center (1280 Fifth Avenue)
(New York, NY – September 22, 2025) – The Africa Center and Afreximbank Global Africa Gateway are partnering for a second year to present the Future Africa Forum, a global convening of policymakers, leaders, creatives, and visionaries actively working to shape and support Africa’s growth and future.
This years’ theme – From Heritage to Prosperity: Leveraging the Cultural, Policy, and Investment Roots of Global Africa – focuses on the power of diasporic cultural connections, integrated policy frameworks, and investment as the philosophical foundation of Global Africa.
“The deep communion between Africa and its diaspora has the power to reshape the world,” said Ambassador Martin Kimani, President and CEO of The Africa Center. “This linkage is cultural in its essence, and, this week, the Future Africa Forum will show the tangible ways that this connection generates ideas, investments, and partnerships that position Global Africa as a decisive force in shaping the world’s future.”
Featured guests will include President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo, Professor Benedict O. Oramah, President and Chairman of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Chidima Blyden, CEO of Culturally Bound, African and Caribbean heads of government and senior officials, corporate leaders, and key connectors across the United States and African diaspora investment community.
In partnership with Culturally Bound and SpiralH, the Forum will begin with a private screening of Amazing Grace: YorubaWorlds, a groundbreaking new film by award-winning Haitian American director Raynald Leconte. The documentary traces the untold journeys of Yorùbá people (along with their compatriots from their compatriots such as the Jeje (Ewe/Fon), Kongo, the Nupe, Hausa, and Bariba) who endured the earliest transatlantic crossings from Africa to Brazil, beginning in 1533. The film features Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature, alongside other Nigerian and Afro-Brazilian diaspora elders, leaders, scholars, and artists. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Malik Yoba, actor and CEO of Yoba Development.
The next stage of the Forum will convene leaders shaping the infrastructure of industry, finance, and policy that connect Africa with its diaspora to drive shared prosperity. Two panels will serve as the centerpiece of the evening program. The first, “Leadership for Global Africa: Harnessing African Heritage to Respond to Geopolitical and Economic Turmoil,” will highlight practitioners whose enterprises and investments are advancing Global Africa in practice. The second, “A People-Driven Global Africa: Diaspora Power in Capital, Culture, and Commerce,” will explore how diaspora communities are actively reshaping the global trajectory, leveraging financial capital, cultural influence, and entrepreneurial networks to build a people-driven Global Africa rooted in shared prosperity and strategic agency.
The event will also include a creative performance by poet and writer Dr. Mahogany L. Browne. The Africa Center will host a reception immediately following the event, featuring special musical performances by Jamaican reggae royalty Ky-Mani Marley and Mystic Marley.
Future Africa Forum 2025 - From Heritage to Prosperity: Leveraging the Cultural, Policy, and Investment Roots of Global Africa will take place Wednesday, September 24, 2025 from 2pm - 10pm EST at The Africa Center at Aliko Dangote Hall (1280 Fifth Avenue).
About The Africa Center
The Africa Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution committed to the principle that a just and peaceful world begins with a flourishing Africa in deep communion with its diaspora. Located in New York City, The Africa Center convenes artists, creatives, cultural leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers to shape artistic expression, narratives, investments, and partnerships critical to the prosperous and secure future of Africa and its diaspora.