KIGALI, Rwanda —Africa is not waiting for permission to build its future. It is building it right now, through leaders, institutions, communities, and bold experiments across the continent. Yet the next chapter will demand more than ambition. It will require a mindset reset: a shift from aspiration to execution, from isolated efforts to collective action, and from inherited narratives to African agency.
This is the purpose of the Africa Mindset Reset Forum, hosted by the African School of Governance (ASG) and taking place in Kigali on 25–26 August 2026. The forum will convene close to 1,000 young African leaders and policymakers, bringing together government, youth, business, academia, and changemakers to ask a single question: what does Africa’s next chapter demand, and what must change to deliver it?
With Africa of tomorrow being built today, the forum is designed to ensure that participation is not passive. Instead, conversations will be led by young people and experts, focusing on ideas, solutions, and ambitions that can shape Africa’s future trajectory. The Africa Mindset Reset Forum exists to bring forward the thinking, dialogue, and actions needed for what it frames as #AfricaResets.
The forum’s central theme, “From Pan-Africanism to Meta-Africanism”, points to a progression. Pan-Africanism is often rooted in shared identity and shared purpose. Meta-Africanism, in this setting, pushes for a deeper transformation: greater African agency, stronger institutions, and collective action across borders. The forum is therefore a platform for exploring what shifts are required to move Africa from aspiration to action, and from “what we want” to “what we deliver.”
Across two days in Kigali, the programme is structured to rethink how Africa leads, governs, and imagines its future. According to Ivan Atuyambe, one of the forum organizers, the forum is built on three truths that must drive the reset. The first is belief: Africa must own its narrative. The continent is not a “problem to be solved,” but rather “the solution the world needs.” That belief, the forum argues, is the starting point for building with confidence, sovereignty, and creativity. The second truth is African multilateralism. Silos are portrayed as one of the biggest obstacles to progress, particularly when governments, the private sector, and young innovators fail to collaborate across borders. The forum argues that the shift toward meta-African cooperation is essential, an approach that connects systems, strengthens integration, and enables shared ownership of development outcomes. The third truth is execution. The forum emphasizes that ideas are not enough. Turning African solutions into African prosperity requires systems, financing, and delivery capacity. In this framing, the goal is to move from discourse to mechanisms, and from recognition to implementation.
The agenda for Day one , focused on igniting African multilateralism and accelerating the continent’s integration, features high-level voices and deep institutional perspectives. H.E. Thabo Mbeki, Former President of South Africa, is scheduled for the keynote addressing the theme from Pan-Africanism to Meta-Africanism, with emphasis on home-grown solutions, sovereign stewardship of natural resources, and creating dignified work opportunities for young Africans. The forum also includes statements and dialogues with H.E. Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and Co-Founder of ASG; H.E. John Dramani Mahama, President of Ghana; and H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn Boshe, Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Dr. Sidi Ould Tah, President of the African Development Bank, will address the question of financing Africa’s reset, including African-led development finance, the AfCFTA, and financial sovereignty. In addition, an intergenerational dialogue on institutions, execution, and integrated markets brings together H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of Nigeria, and H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat.
Day two shifts toward sovereign stewardship of the continent’s natural resources and human capital. Acha Leke, Chairman for Africa at McKinsey & Co., delivers a keynote on mindset shifts needed for sovereign natural resource stewardship and human capital development. The forum will also hear from Dr. Doris Uwicyeza Picard, CEO of the Rwanda Governance Board, on Rwanda’s Community Based Health Insurance as an example of a home-grown mindset shift. Other speakers include Ms. Zouera Yussoufou, CEO of the Aliko Dangote Foundation, addressing how philanthropy can expand opportunity across Africa; H.E. Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, Former Prime Minister of Niger, on Africa Food Security and Trade initiatives; Ms. Clare Akamanzi, CEO of NBA Africa, discussing how mindset constraints affect a sector where sports are already a major business; and Ms. Moky Makura, Executive Director of Africa No Filter, focusing on reframing Africa’s narrative.
The forum is also expected to spotlight Pan-African mandated institutions and leadership-driven initiatives such as Visa openness, a sovereign credit rating agency, and open skies initiatives. Alongside these, youth-led initiatives focused on mindset change will be highlighted, with the discussion ending in concrete commitments designed to ensure the reset continues beyond the closing day.
Intergenerational participation is central to the design of the Africa Mindset Reset Forum. The event is structured so that at least 80% of participants are young and emerging leaders, who also serve as speakers across sessions. Organizers say this is deliberate because the reset must be owned by the generation building Africa’s next 50 years.
The forum’s influence is also set to extend beyond Kigali through pan-African participation efforts. The Southern Africa Youth Forum (SAYoF) is attending and partnering with the forum, and SAYoF will organize a Watch Party in Zimbabwe in partnership with House of Arts. A satellite hub model will allow young leaders to participate collectively, with the intent that hubs go beyond livestream viewing. Participants will be encouraged to engage with selected live sessions from Kigali and to hold locally facilitated conversations about what the Forum’s ideas mean for their own contexts. The discussions also shape the narrative on how the outcomes can be taken forward after the forum, a strategy to build the Africa we want.
As Africa’s leaders, innovators, and policymakers gather in Kigali from 25–26 August 2026, the Africa Mindset Reset Forum positions itself as more than a conference. It is a call to action, an attempt to turn shared belief into shared systems, and shared ambition into measurable delivery. In the words of the forum’s message, the continent is ready for a reset, and the time to move from conversation to execution is now.
