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THE AFRICAN RENAISSANCE RETREAT · KIGALI

Nobody will do it for us but us.

Aliko Dangote, to Africa's leaders gathered in Kigali

WHAT IT IS

Africa's leaders, taking responsibility for Africa

The African Renaissance Retreat is a private gathering founded by Aliko Dangote. It brings together Africa's most influential business leaders, presidents and former presidents to work on the continent's hardest problems — and to show that Africa is a place worth investing in.

Its message reaches far beyond the room: everyone has a part. Some will do big things, some medium, some small.

TIMELINE
MAY 2024 · KIGALI
Africa CEO Forum
Dangote says he needs 35 visas to travel Africa and declares that the future is in Africa.
6–8 SEPTEMBER 2024 · KIGALI
First Retreat
About 50 leaders, including President Kagame. Focus: free movement, financing development, local production and value addition.
14–16 NOVEMBER 2025 · KIGALI
Second Retreat: “Translating Ideas into Action”
With Kagame, Thabo Mbeki, Olusegun Obasanjo, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Hailemariam Desalegn and UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed.
JULY 2026 · BANJUL
Vision 2030
Dangote announces $46 billion of investment across Africa and calls for an African Industrialization Compact 2035.
WHAT DANGOTE TOLD THE ROOM
The promise, honestly told
Africa holds about 30% of the world's mineral reserves and the largest reserves of gold, cobalt, uranium, platinum and diamonds, plus a young population, vast farmland and fresh water. The obstacles are real — inconsistent policies, weak infrastructure, currency crises — but his group, built across 14 African countries with over 50,000 employees, is proof that Africans can succeed anyway.
WHAT THE LEADERS AGREED
Five resolutions
1. Regular dialogue between Africa's private sector and political leaders.
2. Support for ratifying the free movement of people protocol.
3. Lower logistics costs and wider internet access.
4. An African Renaissance Companies Gender Compact.
5. Convening global business leaders of African descent.

Sources: The New Times and AllAfrica (November 2025); Eastleigh Voice (September 2024); Arise TV and Capital Ethiopia; African Caucus, Banjul (July 2026).

WHERE WE COME IN

The Retreat works at the top. We work everywhere else.

Presidents and billionaires can open doors. But a renaissance is carried by millions of ordinary people — students, workers, founders, families. The Promised Continent exists for them: to explain these ideas in plain words, teach them, and turn them into small actions that add up.

Read the full briefingWhy free movement matters →