Africa’s trade integration agenda takes center stage this September as Mr. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, headlines the PMI Global Summit Series Cape Town from 14–15 September 2026 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).
Hosted by Project Management Institute (PMI) Sub-Saharan Africa, the Summit will bring together government, development finance, energy, tech and infrastructure leaders under one urgent mandate: Africa Delivers M.O.R.E. Together.
Mene’s keynote gives weight to the theme. As the architect of the world’s largest free trade area, his work embodies the very idea of African nations delivering together.
“Africa’s integration will depend on how well we connect our markets, move goods and people, power our economies and make it easier to do business across borders,” the Summit programme notes. “Behind all of this is the ability to deliver — having the right institutions, skills and project capability to turn continental ambition into real progress.”
The Cape Town Summit will move from policy to practice with leaders tackling Africa’s most critical delivery challenges:
Energy: Mteto Nyathi, Chair of Eskom, will lead conversations on delivering reliable energy access to power growth.
Digital Trade: Olugbenga Agboola, Founder & CEO of Flutterwave, will address the financial and digital systems needed to unlock AfCFTA.
Infrastructure: Willem Botha, Head of Projects at Zutari, will examine the projects required to build a more connected, borderless continent.
AI & the Future: Ziaad Suleman, CEO for South Africa and Botswana at Cassava Technologies, will lead Building Africa’s Own AI Future — a case study on how Africa can move from consuming AI to building it.
They join Karin van Rooyen of PM.Ideas and Sabrina Walter, founder of Women For Change and TIME 100 Most Influential Person of 2026, alongside project leaders driving transformation across the continent.
“Africa is not short of ambition. You can see it in Agenda 2063 and in national development visions across the continent,” says George Asamani, Managing Director, PMI Sub-Saharan Africa.
“What matters now is delivery. We are bringing together people with real experience of delivering complex projects to share what works, what doesn’t, and what they would do differently. We want professionals to leave Cape Town with practical approaches they can apply immediately. That is what Africa Delivers M.O.R.E. Together is about.”
The African Integration Story: Progress, Partnership, and Possibility; a high-level panel with Dagmawit Moges Bekele, African Union Commission; Rudi Dicks, Presidency of South Africa; and Dr. Matthew Prempeh, former Minister, Ghana. Moderated by Armand Nzeyimana, African Development Bank.
Establishing and Strengthening PMOs in the Public Sector; delivery chiefs from Kenya, Uganda, Cape Town and SARS will share how governments are building the machinery to turn policy and budgets into results. Moderated by PMO expert Americo Pinto.
“Project management is ultimately about closing the distance between what we say we want to achieve and what people actually experience,” Asamani adds. “Delivery is what turns plans into progress.”
The Cape Town Summit builds on last year’s successful gathering in Kigali, which convened more than 1,000 project professionals and government officials.
