Africa stands at a historic crossroads. SMEs account for more than 80% of employment, yet fewer than 20% engage in cross-border trade. Women lead nearly 30% of registered businesses but face systemic barriers. Youth, who make up 60% of our population, are innovating daily but struggle to scale. These figures are not just statistics; they are the untapped engines of Africa’s prosperity.

At the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) in Accra last year, I reminded leaders that AfCFTA is not merely about free trade; it is about creating an environment that supports Africa’s industries and businesses. This year, as we convene APD 2026 under the theme “Empowering SMEs, Women & Youth in Africa’s Single Market: Innovate. Collaborate. Trade,” I reaffirm that Africa’s prosperity must not only be continental, it must be global.

SMEs are the backbone of Africa’s economy. According to UNECA, AfCFTA could increase intra-African trade by 52%. Ghana’s SMEs in agribusiness, textiles, and fintech have shown that when integrated into regional value chains, they create jobs at scale and drive industrialisation. But, the next step is global competitiveness. Our SMEs must not only trade across African borders, they must export to the world. AfCFTA must be the launchpad for Africa’s global brands.

Women entrepreneurs are Africa’s most resilient innovators, yet they remain locked out of finance and networks. Closing gender gaps could add trillions to global GDP, but this requires bold action. That is why I have consistently championed the creation of a Women’s Development Bank (WDB) in Ghana.

This institution will provide low-interest loans, financial literacy, and tailored business support to women entrepreneurs. It is designed to dismantle systemic barriers, unlock economic potential, and empower women as leaders and nation-builders. Women’s economic empowerment is often framed as a social good, but it is fundamentally an economic strategy. For AfCFTA to deliver on its promise, inclusion, particularly of women, must be non-negotiable.

Africa’s youth are our greatest asset. With 60% of our population under 25, we hold the world’s largest youth dividend. In Ghana, I have made it clear that agriculture must be the engine that harnesses this energy. My vision is to move our agriculture sector from subsistence to a powerhouse, modernised, mechanised, and globally competitive sector.

By investing in irrigation, storage, processing, and digital platforms, and by providing mentorship and capital, we will empower young farmers and agripreneurs to scale their enterprises. AfCFTA must be the ecosystem that allows Ghana’s agriculture to flourish across the continent and into global markets.

Critics often contend that Africa’s integration agenda is overly ambitious, citing infrastructure gaps and political complexities. These concerns are legitimate, but they are not insurmountable. Ghana’s role as host of the AfCFTA Secretariat in Accra demonstrates our unwavering commitment to continental integration.

The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) is already transforming cross-border trade by reducing currency barriers and transaction costs.

The Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) is lowering the cost of movement and strengthening connectivity. At the same time, digital platforms are enabling small and medium-sized enterprises to reach customers far beyond national borders. Integration succeeds not by chance, but by collective political will, sustained investment, and deliberate action and Africa is moving in that direction.

The strategic imperative before us is unmistakable: the AfCFTA must succeed; fully, inclusively, and competitively on the global stage. This demands deliberate action. Governments must align policies and dismantle the barriers that fragment our markets.

Financial institutions must move beyond one-size-fits-all financing and design instruments that unlock capital for SMEs, women, and youth. Private investors must recognise Africa’s entrepreneurs not as risks to be avoided, but as partners in value, creation while civil society continues to hold us – leaders and institutions alike – accountable.

Africa’s single market is more than an economic framework; it is a promise of shared prosperity. Yet that promise will remain unfulfilled unless SMEs, women, and young people are empowered not merely to participate, but to lead.

As President of Ghana, I call on African leaders, businesses, and citizens to move decisively from aspiration to action. We must innovate boldly, collaborate intentionally, and trade seamlessly across our borders. The AfCFTA must not remain a declaration agreed in conference halls; it must become a lived reality that expands opportunity for our African people. This is how we take Africa global; by building competitive brands, resilient industries, and world-class innovations that can stand confidently on the international stage.

Africa’s future will not be shaped by promises alone. It will be built by our entrepreneurs, powered by our women, and driven by our youth. The moment to act is not tomorrow. It is now.

This op-ed by H.E. John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic Ghana, draws on extracts from his speeches and public addresses delivered at key platforms including the Africa Prosperity Dialogues 2025, engagements with young entrepreneurs, and policy statements on Africa’s industrialisation and women’s empowerment.

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A newly executed supply agreement between carbon asset manager Econetix and SCB Environmental Markets signals that African‑origin credits are moving toward eligibility under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), the framework overseen by the International Civil Aviation Organization to curb airline emissions growth.

The deal, involving credits sourced from projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, reflects a broader push to position African carbon assets within compliance markets rather than the voluntary offset space, where prices have been volatile and scrutiny over environmental integrity has intensified.

It is also part of Econetix’s goal to originate, certify and commercialise high‑integrity carbon credits that fully comply with the requirements of the aviation reduction scheme.

“This deal marks the starting point for Econetix as a leading CORSIA supplier. We have demonstrated our ability to originate, certify and transact high‑integrity carbon assets at the level and integrity the aviation market demands,” said Jakob Zenz, founder of Econetix.

CORSIA, which enters a more demanding phase later this decade, is expected to generate demand for hundreds of millions of tonnes of eligible credits through 2035.

While much of that supply has historically come from Latin America and parts of Asia, African governments and project developers are increasingly seeking to align with Article 6 mechanisms under the Paris Agreement to ensure credits meet international compliance standards.

Market participants say the shift requires navigating complex authorisation procedures, including corresponding adjustments to prevent double counting and registry labelling processes that satisfy both host governments and airline buyers.

“For African countries, this is less about one transaction and more about building institutional capacity,” said one market adviser involved in the deal. “Compliance markets require a different level of governance.”

Econetix, which is active in 16 African countries, has been working with national authorities to structure projects capable of meeting CORSIA eligibility requirements. SCB Environmental Markets will distribute the credits to aviation buyers through its global network.

“For Africa, this is not just about carbon credits — it is about long‑term investment, institutional capacity building and predictable revenue streams for governments and local communities,” said Paul Nimmerfall, founder of Econetix. “Through this and upcoming CORSIA transactions, millions of dollars will flow directly into African project countries.”

Econetix has developed expertise in navigating the regulatory and certification processes required to bring African carbon credits to full CORSIA eligibility, giving it an edge in the market. This includes Article 6 authorisations, corresponding adjustment procedures and registry labelling.

The successful execution of this transaction shows that Econetix can originate high‑integrity African carbon assets and structure and close large‑scale international CORSIA transactions. It positions the company among a small group of global players with technical expertise and a commercial track record in the multi‑billion‑dollar aviation carbon market.

Analysts say the emergence of compliance‑grade supply from Africa could reshape how carbon finance flows into the continent. Voluntary carbon markets have often been criticised for unpredictable pricing and limited fiscal transparency.

By contrast, CORSIA‑aligned transactions require host‑country approval, potentially creating more stable revenue streams for governments.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, home to vast tropical forest reserves, has been positioning itself as a key player in Article 6 carbon markets, though implementation remains at an early stage across much of the continent.

If additional projects progress through certification, Africa could begin to occupy a more central role in the aviation carbon market, providing compliance‑ready supply at a time when airlines face tightening emissions obligations.

Whether that translates into sustained development gains will depend on governance, price stability and the integrity of credit issuance. For now, however, the transaction signals that African carbon assets are edging into one of the world’s most regulated offset markets.

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Total capital raised rose to $3.2 billion, up from $2.2 billion in 2024, yet the number of companies securing more than $100,000 remained largely unchanged.

Latest data from Africa The Big Deal, a research initiative that tracks start‑up investment across the continent, shows that while headline figures improved, the underlying structure of the market continued to consolidate around a small group of capital‑intensive companies.

Fintech retained its position as the continent’s largest sector, attracting $1.2 billion across 124 companies. But the breadth of activity continued to narrow. The top five fintech recipients — M‑Kopa, Wave, MNT‑Halan, Moniepoint and ValU — accounted for 52 per cent of all capital raised in the sector, down from 58 per cent in 2024 but still indicative of a market dominated by repeat mega‑raisers.

Debt played a growing role, with Wave’s $137 million facility and MNT‑Halan’s bond issuance helping lift the sector’s total despite fewer funded companies. Fintech also led on liquidity, contributing 19 of the year’s 49 exits, more than double the 22 recorded across all sectors in 2024.

The most dramatic shift occurred in energy, where funding nearly doubled to $857 million, returning to levels last seen in 2023. The sector has become structurally dependent on large debt packages: 71 per cent of all capital raised came through debt, with d.light’s $300 million facility and Sun King’s $156 million raise accounting for much of the total.

The top five companies absorbed 82 per cent of all energy funding, underscoring the extent of concentration. Analysts say the pattern reflects both investor caution and the capital‑intensive nature of distributed energy models.

Outside these two dominant sectors, activity was more diffuse. Logistics and transport raised $309 million across 63 companies, almost entirely through equity. Healthcare attracted $211 million, though nearly half of that came from a single $100 million round for LXE Hearing. Agriculture and food remained modest in capital terms at $122 million but continued to show broad participation, with 62 companies securing funding.

Climate tech — which cuts across energy, agriculture, logistics and other verticals — has emerged as one of the continent’s most resilient themes. Companies in the category raised $1.2 billion in 2025, representing 38 per cent of total funding, in line with 2023 levels and up from 34 per cent in 2024.

Participation has risen steadily, with climate‑linked ventures accounting for 29 per cent of all funded companies, compared with 18–20 per cent just three years earlier.

The data suggests a market bifurcating between a small cohort of capital‑intensive platforms able to secure large debt and equity rounds, and a broader base of early‑stage companies raising modest sums. While the headline rebound in 2025 signals renewed investor appetite, the underlying concentration raises questions about the depth and resilience of Africa’s venture ecosystem as it enters 2026.

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Years later, after college and a move across continents, she finally allowed herself to pursue music fully. She had always been someone who prepared for the worst, someone who tried to anticipate every possible outcome, but music required a different kind of openness.

“I finally admitted to myself that it was okay for me to pursue music,” she said. “It truly was the only thing I really wanted to pursue with my entire being. I allowed myself to do that, and it was a fantastic decision. And I am very much aware that it’s a very long road, but it’s one that I want to be on.” She began recording from her apartment in Madrid, learning how to build songs from the emotions she carried.

Her writing often begins in moments of reflection. She describes herself as someone who lives with anxiety, especially around love, and many of her songs grow out of that tension. “When I’m going through the motions of love, that’s when songs pour out of me,” she said. “And one of the taglines I’ve kind of stuck to is ‘I make music that will make you cry and learn to love yourself,’ because that’s certainly how I have gone through emotions with my own music.”

The idea behind her album Garden came from trying to create a space where she could feel steady, even when life felt unpredictable. “I cannot control all of the things that will happen to me,” she said. The album became a way of shaping a safe place around that truth.

Two songs on the album almost never made it. She doubted her voice, her writing, and whether they belonged. “I am my worst critic,” she said. She considered removing them entirely, but she released them anyway. Listeners later told her those same songs were among their favourites, a reminder that the creative process often moves ahead of the artist’s confidence.

Her growth has been gradual. She recently shared data showing her annual Spotify listeners rising from 800 to 167,000 in just over three years. The surge surprised her, but she tries to keep her attention on the work rather than the numbers. “It feels good,” she admits, “but I’m still trying to focus on making good art.”

It is, however, Riah’s Cape Verdean heritage that has remained central to her identity.

Cape Verde’s musical tradition is rich, shaped by genres like morna and carried by artists such as Cesária Évora, Mayra Andrade and June Freedom.

For generations, this tiny archipelago off West Africa’s coast has cradled a music that mends the heart’s quiet fractures, from Cesária Évora’s velvet laments to the unsung melodies of fishermen and families holding fast against the ocean’s pull.

Riah grew up listening to that sound, and she hopes to contribute to its visibility.

“Our music deserves to be listened to,” she said. Many people she meets have never heard of Cape Verde, and she wants her work to change that, even in small ways. “We are a very, very small country, and I’m very happy and proud that both of my parents come from there. And I feel like, when I go there, there’s a very big part of home that kind of kicks into place… Just getting our name out there would be fantastic,” she said.

She spent ten weeks on the islands last year, staying with her grandmother and meeting local musicians. Many face visa barriers that limit their ability to perform abroad. She hopes to bring them onto international stages as her own career grows. “I would love to be the reason they can fly somewhere else and perform their beautiful work,” she said.

Her path has been independent. She has spoken with labels and companies, including some she never expected would reach out, but the offers rarely aligned with what she needed. “Lots of times they can’t do too much for artists that we’re not already doing for ourselves,” she said.

Some deals required giving up too much for too little. She decided to continue with her small team, keeping control of her work while acknowledging the challenges. “The biggest place where I would love help is in management and PR,” she said. “There’s so much work behind the scenes, especially in the release of this album (Garden).”

She is now based in Boston and focused on performing more. She has played at shows in Madrid and Cape Verde, and she wants to build her stage experience gradually. She prefers intimate spaces where she can see the audience and feel their reactions. “I want to be in their faces, in their spaces,” she said. “Getting the music directly into their ears.” She is also learning to use social media more intentionally, posting consistently and experimenting with content. “I threw myself in the deep end,” she said. “I’m glad I did.”

Her goals are long‑term. She is not chasing a sudden breakthrough. She prefers slow growth, steady listeners, and songs that find their audience over time. Her track “Too Fast” is an example. It had been out for a while before it suddenly climbed to hundreds of thousands of views. She checked YouTube one morning and saw the numbers rising. It kept growing over the next two months, a reminder that music often finds its moment quietly.

For Riah, music is not something she adopted later in life but the way she experiences the world. She taps rhythms without thinking, hums melodies while concentrating, and writes lyrics in the middle of ordinary days. “It was always a part of who I am,” she said. The realisation was not that she loved music, but that she needed to share it. “I won’t feel complete unless I bring my own music to the world.”

Her work now carries the quiet soul of Cape Verde, the emotional honesty of her writing, and the patience of someone building a career one step at a time. She is shaping a sound that reflects where she comes from and where she hopes to go, and she is doing it with the same steady rhythm that has guided her since childhood.

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It is a simple memory, but it explains much of what came after. Reading led to writing, and writing became a way of observing people and the worlds they carried. Years later, that early habit would shape a career that now spans communications, cultural organising, and women’s development work across several African countries.

Today, Ozougwu is a communications professional and the founder of Lady Dynamique Network, a women‑led organisation she established in 2022. The group supports creative work, advocacy, and community projects, and has grown into a network of more than 500 women. She recently completed an MA in Media and Communication Industries at the University of East London, a degree that aligns closely with the work she has been building for years.

She describes her professional life in three parts: “Communication, development and partnerships.” Those areas, she said, “show up in everything I do,” and they now form the backbone of Lady Dynamique Network’s programmes.

Ozougwu grew up in Nigeria, where books were her earliest companions. She wrote stories throughout her childhood and continued into adulthood. The practice sharpened her attention to detail and deepened her interest in people’s lived experiences. When she eventually began working in communications and organising events, the transition felt natural. She was still telling stories—only now they were tied to real communities and real needs.

Her latest project, a poetry anthology featuring more than 50 submissions from women across Africa, is an extension of that early instinct. The anthology, titled Lady Dynamique, is expected later this year. It is part of the organisation’s broader effort to create platforms where women can express themselves creatively and be taken seriously as contributors to cultural life.

“I like to call myself a cultural architect,” she said with a laugh. “Because there’s just a lot of things around me… a lot of you know.” The phrase is her way of acknowledging that her work does not fit neatly into one category. Communications, development, partnerships—she treats them as interconnected tools rather than separate professions.

From the beginning, she wanted Lady Dynamique Network to do more than collect stories. “I didn’t want it to be like, okay, you’re just writing stories,” she said. “What comes after the stories? How are you impacting the people that you’ve told their stories?”

Those questions became the organisation’s compass. The goal was not only to document women’s experiences but to create opportunities around them.

One of the earliest examples was the Creative Exchange Program (CEP), a 12‑day initiative that brought together women from eight African countries. The programme covered design thinking, creative entrepreneurship, and digital storytelling. It included virtual sessions and a daily journal‑style workbook that Ozougwu designed herself. Participants used it to reflect, complete assignments, and develop their stories.

The programme also offered a $100 digital‑story prize. The amount was small, but the effect was significant. Women shared stories of resilience, loss, and survival. Some asked to remain anonymous. Others spoke openly about experiences they had never voiced publicly. “We’re not looking at stories of people who are already there,” she said. “We want to give the average woman a voice.”

As the programmes expanded, so did the community. Lady Dynamique Network now includes more than 500 women who share resources, collaborate on projects, and support one another’s work. Membership is free, and most activities are funded internally or through small grants.

In 2023, the organisation moved into environmental work. With support from the African Human Rights Foundation, Ozougwu led a waste‑management project in Borno State in north‑eastern Nigeria. The region has limited recycling infrastructure, so the team trained women in waste sorting and connected them with collectors and recycling companies outside the area.

“There are no recycling plants there,” she said. “So we connected them with people who could collect their waste.”

The project combined environmental education with income‑generating opportunities and was later documented in a report shared with partners.

Ozougwu often returns to a belief that guides much of her work: progress spreads through connection. “If we hold one woman, the other woman can hold the other woman,” she said. It is a simple idea, but it shapes how she designs programmes and how she thinks about community.

She frequently cites Access Bank’s W Collective in Nigeria as an example of what institutional support for women can look like. “I’m very proud of how they built that community,” she said. She is studying how such structures emerge and how organisations can transition from corporate spaces into development work.

Her own path has not followed a straight line. She has moved between writing, corporate communication, organising, and academic study. The master’s programme in London strengthened her understanding of media industries and sharpened her research and project‑management skills. But it did not shift her priorities.

“If I’m going to tell a woman’s story,” she said, “there is something around it that is going to either change this person’s life.”

Lady Dynamique Network is preparing to release its poetry anthology later this year. More programmes are planned, and Ozougwu is seeking partnerships and funding to expand the organisation’s reach. The goal is not scale for its own sake, but access—more women, more stories, more opportunities.

She is still the child who wrote stories, but the stories now belong to many women, not just one. And the structures she is building—small, steady, and deliberate—are designed to last.

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The 2025 data show Mauritius leading the continent at 55th place with an innovation score of 30.6, followed by Morocco (66th, 28.8) and South Africa (69th, 28.3). These figures mark a continuation of trends observed in 2023 and 2024, when the same countries occupied top regional spots with scores fluctuating within a narrow band.

Innovation scores across the continent have declined slightly over the past three years, with most countries losing between 0.5 and 2 points. South Africa, for example, dropped from 59th in 2023 to 69th in 2025, while its score fell by 2.1 points. Tunisia, Egypt and Botswana also saw minor declines, though their rankings remained largely unchanged.

The GII measures innovation performance across pillars such as infrastructure, human capital, market sophistication and knowledge outputs. While African countries continue to lag behind global leaders, the data suggest that their innovation ecosystems are not deteriorating but rather stagnating.

“Relative stability in rankings indicates that Africa is not falling behind—it’s holding position while others accelerate,” the report notes.

Burundi was the only African country to record a score increase between 2023 and 2025, rising by 0.7 points and climbing three places. Morocco also improved its score in 2025, suggesting that targeted investments in industrial modernization and digital infrastructure may be yielding results.

The GII does not account for informal innovation or grassroots entrepreneurship, which remain significant in African economies. Nor does it measure the impact of innovation on social outcomes such as access to energy, education or healthcare.

Policymakers across the continent have acknowledged the need for structural reform. In Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria, governments have launched initiatives to support startups, expand internet access and reform intellectual property regimes. However, funding gaps and regulatory bottlenecks continue to constrain progress.

The goal, according to regional analysts, is not to match the innovation intensity of OECD countries but to build systems that are locally relevant and globally competitive.

“Africa’s innovation challenge is not just about rankings—it’s about resilience, relevance and readiness,” said a policy advisor at the African Development Bank.

The 2025 GII underscores the importance of long-term investment in education, research and digital infrastructure. Without these, experts warn, Africa risks remaining a passive participant in the global innovation economy.

Still, the continent’s top performers—Mauritius, Morocco and South Africa—demonstrate that progress is possible with the right mix of policy, investment and institutional support. Their experience may offer a blueprint for others seeking to move beyond stagnation.

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According to fresh data from Africa: The Big Deal, the milestone was reached in August—weeks earlier than in comparable years—putting 2025 on course to outpace last year’s totals with less than $250 million still to go.

The crossing of the threshold carries symbolic weight in a market where confidence has been fragile since the global venture slowdown. 

“It is a good performance in itself, and encouraging if we compare to previous years,” the Africa-focused tracker noted, recalling that the $2 billion level was only hit in August during both 2021 and 2023. The early arrival of the mark this year suggests funding momentum is steadily returning.

The shift is being powered by a series of large-ticket deals and renewed participation from a wider pool of investors. Already in the first half of 2025, startups on the continent had secured more than $1 billion, with April standing out as one of the strongest months on record. In that single month, companies raised $343 million in transactions above $100,000—4.5 times more than April 2024.

South Africa and Egypt have provided much of the firepower. HearX, a South African healthtech company, drew $100 million through a merger with U.S.-based Eargo, marking the year’s first mega-deal. 

Payments platform Stitch added $55 million from existing backers to extend its end-to-end services, while Egypt’s Islamic fintech Bokra raised $59 million via a sukuk issuance—just a year after its pre-seed round.

These deals not only expanded balance sheets but also mended investor sentiment. Analysts say the pipeline of substantial rounds has been critical in pulling the ecosystem out of its post-pandemic stagnation. “This is the kind of momentum we like to see,” Africa: The Big Deal observed in an earlier note.

Exit activity has also injected confidence. Egyptian fintech ADVA was bought by UAE’s Maseera, Nigerian firm C-One Ventures acquired Bankly, and South Africa’s Peach Payments snapped up PayDunya to enter Francophone West Africa. Such moves highlight a maturing ecosystem where consolidation is beginning to shape regional strategies.

Beyond headline-grabbing transactions, the breadth of engagement has widened. By April, 225 unique investors had participated in African startup deals above $100,000, underscoring a diversification of capital sources. 

While U.S. and European funds remain influential, Middle Eastern and Asian players are increasingly active, creating alternative avenues of financing.

This diversification is viewed as a stabilising factor. It reduces dependency on a handful of traditional sources and aligns with governments’ efforts to deepen cross-border investment partnerships. 

For example, several Gulf funds have been scouting African fintech and renewable energy ventures, while Asian investors are expanding exposure to e-commerce and logistics.

Sectorally, fintech retains its dominance, but health tech, agritech, and clean energy are gaining traction. Angel investor groups had flagged these areas as growth drivers earlier this year, a prediction that appears to be materialising as more deals close in non-fintech verticals. 

The demographic shifts and digital adoption rates across the continent continue to underpin demand for solutions in these sectors.

The recovery in activity can be traced back to late 2024, when Nigerian payments firm Moniepoint closed a $110 million Series C round, becoming a unicorn with a valuation above $1 billion. South Africa’s Tyme Group followed in December with a $250 million Series D that raised its valuation to $1.5 billion. 

These back-to-back announcements served as inflection points, reasserting Africa’s relevance on the global startup map.

Momentum carried into 2025, as funding flows accelerated and the ecosystem reached the halfway mark of $1 billion by June. At that point, funding was already 43% higher than the same period in 2024. The progress since then reflects a consolidation of that trajectory rather than a one-off rebound.

For startups themselves, the return of investor appetite translates into sharper competition for capital but also larger potential payouts. Companies are being urged to demonstrate clearer paths to profitability as investors apply lessons from the global “funding winter.” Leaner operations and more disciplined scaling strategies are now part of the pitch deck expectations.

The early crossing of the $2 billion milestone sets the stage for a strong finish to 2025. If the pace holds, this year could be one of the continent’s best since the record-breaking highs of 2021. Analysts caution, however, that the funding landscape remains vulnerable to global economic shifts and investor sentiment swings.

Still, the numbers suggest that Africa’s startups have re-entered a growth phase, backed by deeper capital pools and widening sectoral interest. As new players arrive and established ones double down, the market appears to be building resilience that was absent during previous cycles.

The question now is less about whether funding will surpass last year’s totals, and more about how high it can climb in the months ahead.

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Now, that calculus has spilled onto the pitch.

In mid-June, DRC’s tourism ministry unveiled a multi-year partnership with AC Milan. The deal, announced in Rome, includes branding rights, youth academies, and infrastructure upgrades. It came just days before DRC and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in Washington, a sequence that suggests the timing was anything but random.

Rwanda has long understood the power of football diplomacy. Since 2018, it has spent millions on sponsorship deals with Arsenal, PSG, and Bayern Munich, turning stadiums into billboards for its “Visit Rwanda” campaign. Earlier this year, DRC’s foreign minister publicly urged those clubs to reconsider their ties with Rwanda. They didn’t. So DRC made its own move.

The AC Milan partnership is part of Italy’s €5.5 billion Africa strategy, with DRC listed among the priority recipients. Milan’s ownership by RedBird Capital, a U.S.-based firm, adds another layer of geopolitical alignment. While the club hasn’t disclosed the value of the deal, analysts suggest it’s less about revenue and more about visibility. DRC’s tourism budget is modest — just $18 million — while Milan’s annual revenue exceeds €450 million.

The agreement includes plans to refurbish sports facilities and build a school in Boma, in collaboration with the Mama Sofia Foundation. An AC Milan Academy is also in development. The branding campaign — “Explore the DRC, Heart of Africa” — will be featured at Milan’s stadium and training grounds this season, with jersey placement expected by 2026.

Back home, DRC’s domestic football league has struggled to stay afloat. Seasons have been suspended, tournaments left unfinished, and funding remains scarce. Critics argue the Milan deal is a distraction. Supporters see it as a calculated move — a soft power play designed to elevate DRC’s global profile.

Sport isn’t the only arena where DRC is seeking leverage. The European Investment Bank recently backed a major fiber-optic rollout in eastern DRC, led by Bandwidth and Cloud Services Group. The project aims to connect 2.5 million people, 319 schools, and 70 hospitals, and is part of the EU’s Global Gateway initiative. BCS plans to build 12,000 kilometers of digital infrastructure across the country.

Minister of Sport Didier Budimbu has also signed a separate agreement with AS Monaco, and negotiations are underway for a €4.8 million shirt sponsorship. These deals are part of a broader effort to position sport as a diplomatic tool — one that complements DRC’s ambitions in tech, infrastructure, and regional influence.

The Milan partnership fits neatly into this strategy. It offers visibility in Serie A broadcasts, proximity to Italian policymakers, and a new channel for soft power. The goal isn’t just tourism. It’s access, leverage, and presence.

DRC may have arrived late to the football diplomacy game, but it’s playing with intent. The Milan deal isn’t about selling safaris. It’s about signaling ambition. In a region where bandwidth, minerals, and influence are tightly intertwined, football is becoming another instrument of statecraft.

Whether the returns are immediate or delayed, the message is unmistakable: DRC is no longer watching from the sidelines.

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Digitel’s most visible leap came last year when it launched South Sudan’s first 5G trial, beating long-established players like MTN and Zain to market. 

The pilot, conducted in partnership with Chinese vendor ZTE, clocked download speeds of 1.2 Gbps in Juba’s Hai Neem district. 

Digitel believes that if there is a new technology out there that can help connect the people, it will try to bring that technology to South Sudan.

The company’s strategy hinges on local insight. Digitel offers phones with extended battery life to suit areas with limited electricity, and its data bundles are priced to match the spending power of a population where 85% remain offline. The firm is also working toward building its own towers and backhaul systems, aiming to reduce dependence on imported bandwidth and leased infrastructure.

South Sudan’s telecom market has long been dominated by MTN, which held over 60% of mobile subscriptions by the end of 2024. The South African operator added 1,556 4G sites across its African footprint last year, helping drive a 25% increase in mobile subscribers in South Sudan alone. 

But Digitel’s entry has begun to shift the competitive landscape. While full market data remains scarce, Digitel insiders say the company is adding users at a faster clip than its rivals, particularly in underserved urban corridors.

The expansion comes amid severe economic headwinds. The civil war in neighbouring Sudan has disrupted oil exports, South Sudan’s primary source of foreign currency. Inflation has surged, and the South Sudanese pound has weakened sharply against the dollar, making it harder to import telecom equipment. Insecurity in several states has delayed tower construction and forced operators to reroute logistics.

Still, telecoms have proven resilient in conflict zones. “Telecom companies should be quite familiar with war,” Nzioka Waita, Africa director at the Tony Blair Institute told The Economist. He pointed to Somalia’s thriving mobile sector and Ethiopia’s state-owned Ethio Telecom, which posted record revenues despite ongoing unrest.

Digitel’s growth is concentrated in Juba, Wau, and Malakal, where mobile broadband penetration is highest. But the company is also testing renewable-powered towers to push coverage into rural counties, where infrastructure is sparse and electricity unreliable. The firm’s long-term goal is to blanket the country with basic voice and data services, eventually enabling mobile money and cloud-based enterprise tools.

The startup’s ambitions have drawn cautious optimism from analysts. “Digitel is one of the first serious homegrown attempts to expand digital access in South Sudan,” said Martin Macharia, a technology analyst based in Nairobi. “They’re trying to build a digital ecosystem.”

The company’s leadership team includes Paul Onek, chief technology officer, and Wilson Kyumba, chief operations officer, both of whom have backgrounds in regional telecom deployments. Their focus has been on operational efficiency and local hiring, with Digitel recruiting engineers and technicians from South Sudanese universities and vocational programs.

Government support has been limited but not absent. The Ministry of Information has praised Digitel’s 5G trial as a “gateway to unprecedented opportunities,” and the Universal Service and Access Fund has called for rural deployment beyond Juba. However, regulatory clarity remains a challenge, and tax exemptions granted to Digitel have sparked debate over market fairness and fiscal sustainability.

Digitel is betting that local engagement will give it an edge, since foreign firms don’t always understand the nuances of that complex market.

On the wall behind Awuol desk hang portraits of Che Guevara and Tupac Shakur the Economist reported—figures he says represent defiance and vision. 

Whether Digitel can emulate their legacy in the telecom space remains to be seen. But in a country where connectivity is still a luxury, the startup’s rapid expansion is already reshaping expectations.

Second Eye Africa

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